A Mermaid's Tale
by Treta Aysel
Summary: Serenity's the mermaid princess who wished to be human for one day. During her day on land she falls in love with a man she meets at a beach house. Though when she returns to the sea she has a secret that makes her return to land.
1. Prologue

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Prologue: **

Deep down in the ocean there are creatures that are half human and half fish. These creatures are called merfolk. Despite the many legends about merfolk they are normally peaceful and never disturb humans. In the heart of the Pacific Ocean is the kingdom of the merfolk. It is where King Nereus and Queen Darya rule their people.

Though they have ruled for a long time they were getting older and their daughter, Serenity, was reaching the age to marry. Once she married she would be able to become queen and rule her kingdom along side her husband. Her sixteenth birthday was approaching rapidly. The sixteenth birthday was the most important birthday. Though since she was the princess her sixteenth birthday meant something more. At sixteen she could marry. At sixteen she could rule. At sixteen began the rest of her life.

**AN: The prologue is short but the rest of the chapter will be much longer. This is not based of _The Little Mermiad_ though I love the movie. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story.**

**Princess Cornelia **


	2. Chapter 1

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 1:**

It was early morning and the merfolk in the kingdom where getting ready for the day. It wasn't a normal day though. It was their princess' sixteenth birthday. Today would just have to be a normal day though since tomorrow was the celebration.

Inside the palace Serenity slept peacefully in her bed, to much surprise. Everyone thought that she would have been the first one up. Her four friends entered her room to wake the slumbering princess up. They all knew that a sixteenth birthday for a merperson was a big one. On the sixteenth birthday a merperson could make a wish. No matter what it was it came true for the entire day.

Serenity groaned as she felt someone shaking her. When she shaking wouldn't stop she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Huh?" She mumbled. "What are you guys doing here?"

A raven-haired mermaid with a red fin smiled. "It's your birthday Serenity." She informed her friend, knowing that the princess might've forgotten.

Serenity looked up at her friends and gasped. That's right. It was her sixteenth birthday. Otherwise known as the day of a wish. "I forgot that my birthday was today." Serenity told her friends as she got out of bed and swam over to her vanity made out of coral.

A blue haired mermaid with a light blue fin giggled as Serenity began to brush her hair. "We figured that when you weren't the first merperson up this morning."

When Serenity set down her brush she turned to her friends. "After breakfast is when I receive the wishing pearl." Serenity told the other four as they left the room to eat.

The wishing pearl is a white pearl that possesses magical powers. Every family receives one once they have a child. The wishing pearl however only has enough magical powers for the wish to come true for one day. There were certain laws against the wish. You couldn't wish anyone dead or to be royalty, but other then that any wish was fine.

Queen Darya smiled as Serenity and her friends swam quickly into the great hall. The queen had once had blonde hair. Now her hair was turning silver with age. Her fin was a golden color. On her head was a simple sliver tiara. "Good morning mother." Serenity said as she hugged her mother.

Serenity was a younger version on her mother. Her hair was the same color as her mother's had once been. Though the princess most of the time wore her hair in buns with flowing tails. Her fin was the major difference though. Instead of gold it was pink.

"Good morning Serenity." Darya greeted her daughter. "Good morning Amy, Raye, Lita, Mina."

"Good morning your highness." The four mermaids greeted the queen.

Serenity took her seat next to her mother at a long table. This morning for breakfast in honor of the princess' birthday they were having her favorite food, sea berries. As Serenity began eating the little green berries she looked up and down the table before turning to her mother. "Where's father?" Serenity asked.

The queen looked up from her plate and over at her daughter. "He couldn't be here today. I'm sorry."

Serenity sighed heavily. Her father was always busy, but she hoped that tomorrow he would be there for the celebration. She understood though that he was king and as king he needed to take care of his kingdom.

When she was done she and her friends followed her mother into the jewel room. Once they were inside the Darya picked up an oyster. "Here you are. Your wishing pearl."

Serenity took the oyster from her mother and opened it. She took the pearl into her hands and smiled. All her life she had been thinking about the wish that she would make. Last year she had finally decided on what she would wish for. Today it would come true, though only for a day.

She closed her eyes and the pearl began to glow. It was time to make her wish. _'I wish I was a human.' _

With the wish made her body began glowing and her pink find turned into a pair of legs. A white dress then appeared on her body. The dress went down to her knees. The top had spaghetti straps. On the back of the dress was a small white bow and on her feet where a pair of white sandals.

Raye and Lita raced over to the princess. They each grabbed an arm and helped her swim up to the surface. Am and Mina followed them to make sure Serenity was alright. Darya watched the four mermaids help Serenity up to the surface. Her only hope was that Serenity was going to be alright on land for a day.


	3. Chapter 2

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 2:**

Once Serenity couldn't breath anymore underwater she knew that she was a human. Now she needed air from the surface to breath like all other humans. As she tried to swim up she felt weighed down by the dress she was wearing. She didn't think that she was going to make it until she felt Raye and Lita grab her arms. Half way up she began panicking. She needed air and soon. She really hoped that they would reach the surface soon. Lita looked at Serenity and saw the worried look on her face. "Don't worry, we're almost there." Lita informed the princess.

When they did reach the surface Serenity began gasping as she tried to regain normal breathing. Raye and Lita pulled her towards the beach. She now needed to be on land. When Serenity felt sand brush up against her legs Raye and Lita let go of her arms so she could crawl onto dry land. When she sat on the beach she turned to face her friends. The four looked at her with a worried look on their faces. "I'll be fine." Serenity told them as she tired to stand up, but she just fell back onto her butt.

"Are you sure that you're going to be alright?" Mina called to the blonde.

Serenity nodded as she tried to stand up again. The four wanted to stay, but knew they couldn't. "We have to go." Raye called. "But we'll be back at midnight."

"Bye." Serenity called as the four dove back into the ocean.

As Serenity began to try and walk she saw a woman and a black lab walking towards her. The dog ran ahead of its owner and directly over to Serenity. It ran around her in two complete circles causing Serenity to loose her newfound balance and fall over. The dog started sniffing her before it barked at her. "Rex, come her." The woman called to the dog. The dog looked at Serenity one last time before running back to its owner. The woman just shook her head as she walked over to Serenity. "I'm really sorry about that. He usually likes strangers." The woman explained as she held out her hand to help Serenity up.

Serenity took the hand and the woman helped her up. The blonde brushed off the sand on the back of her dress. "Thank you." Serenity said as she took a step back. When she took the step she almost lost her balance again.

"Are you alright?" The woman asked the princess.

Serenity nodded as she tired to take a few steps again. "I'm fine. I'm just not used to being on land."

"Ah, so you were on a boat." The woman reasoned. "My names Clare, by the way." 

Clare had shoulder length curly black hair. She was a little taller than Serenity who was about 5' 2". She was wearing a lime green tea shirt underneath a gray sweater. She was also wearing a pair of jeans and a pair of brown sandals.

Serenity who had only seen a boat when it was sunken went a long with it. She knew that she couldn't very well tell Clare that she was a mermaid. Though she didn't know why it mattered that the reason she couldn't walk correctly yet was because of a boat, but if the woman thought that's why she went along with it. "I'm Serenity." The mermaid princess introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you Serenity." Clare said as she smiled warmly. "May I ask where your family is? A young woman such as yourself shouldn't be on the beach alone."

Serenity bit her lip. She was unsure what to tell the woman. Then she remembered that Clare thought that she had been on a ship and the only thing that she knew about ships where that they sunk. "They're dead." She suddenly told Clare. "We were in a shipwreck and they drowned."

Clare gasped, the poor girl. She was younger then seventeen and she was left alone in the world. "You poor thing." Clare said as she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Serenity blinked as she smiled weakly. She was quite surprised that the woman believed her. If Clare hadn't believed her then she wasn't sure what she'd do. "You must come with me to my house. I'll get you a hot meal. Your probably haven't eaten for at least two days." Clare told Serenity as they began walking down the beach. "Come on Rex."

Rex, who had been chasing some birds, ran back over to Clare. He began to sniff Serenity's feet again before barking at her again. Clare frowned. "I don't know why he's barking at you."

Serenity smiled before giggling nervously. "Oh, he probably thinks I smell a lot like fish."

Clare just shrugged as they began to walk alongside the beach. As they were walking Serenity glanced out over the ocean. She wondered what her friends were doing. She knew that they were either close to the surface or with her mother trying to pass the day waiting for her to return. "We're here." Clare told Serenity, breaking her from her thoughts.

Serenity looked up from the sea and to the shack in front of them. It wasn't much. It was about three or four feet off the ground. There were some steps leading up the deck. The rest of the house looked like it only had four room's tops. It was made out of regular unpainted wood. "It's not much, but it's home." Clare told her as they began to climb the steps. "My son should be up and getting ready to go to school."

"School?"

"Yes, don't you attend school?"

Serenity shook her head. "No, I never went to school."

Clare smiled. "Well, here in California a minor has to go to school." Clare explained as she unlocked the door. "So, you can attend school with my son today. Maybe later we can register you for school."

Serenity nodded as she followed Clare inside the house. Rex ran past them and over to a dark haired young man zipping up a backpack. He scratched the dog behind his ear before looking up at Serenity and Clare. "Hey." He said as he smiled at them.

Serenity felt a knot form in her stomach. She had never seen a male human this close before and she was very nervous about acting right.


	4. Chapter 3

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 3:**

Serenity nodded as she followed Clare inside the house. Rex ran past them and over to a dark haired young man zipping up a backpack. He scratched the dog behind his ear before looking up at Serenity and Clare. "Hey." He said as he smiled at them.

Serenity felt a knot form in her stomach. She had never seen a male human this close before and she was very nervous about acting right.

Clare smiled as she walked into the kitchen. She glanced over at Serenity who was standing in the doorway, staring at her son. Clare took off her sweater and placed it on the counter before walking back into the entryway. "Serenity, this is my son Darien. Darien, this is Serenity. I found Serenity this morning on the beach." Clare said as she introduced the two of them.

Darien looked from the dog, who was barking at her, and over at Serenity who was still standing in the doorway. He saw how nervous she was and tried to lighten the mood by smiling at her. "Nice to meet you." He told her. "Why don't you sit down?"

Serenity looked at what Darien motioned for her to sit on. Curiously she examined the couch. It was the first piece of furniture that she had seen that wasn't made out of coral. She felt the texture beneath her figures. It was soft, yet rough. Darien looked at her and then at his mother who was in the kitchen making eggs. Clare only shrugged as Serenity plopped down on the couch. "I know it's not very comfortable." Darien told her as she sat there.

Serenity just giggled. "It is comfortable." She told him as she began bouncing on it to prove her point.

"Well, then you're the first person that thinks so." Clare told her as she came into the living room/ dining room and handed them both a plate of scrambled eggs.

The scrambled eggs looked a lot like sea corn, only cooked. So that's what she thought they were. Serenity then placed the plate in her lap and picked up the fork to study it. She held the utensil up to the light to examine it for any unique features. She pressed her figure to the tip and noticed that it was sharp, but not sharp enough to make her bleed. When she looked from the fork to the other two she noticed them staring at her. Serenity then brought down the fork and began to mimic what Darien did with his.

As he watched her eat he smiled. He had never met anyone quite like her. To him she reminded him of a small child though with the body of a sixteen-year-old girl. She was so innocent and curious. "Darien, do you mind taking her to school with you? Just as a visitor then maybe later we can register her for classes." Clare asked him.

"Sure." He told his mother as he watched Serenity trying to get egg off her lap with a fork.

"Alright, we'll leave in a few minutes." Clare told them as she went back into the kitchen.

He watched his mother leave the room before looking back at Serenity who was picking at the egg with her fork. He chuckled as he picked up a napkin off the table. "Here." He said as he handed the napkin to her.

Serenity took the napkins and looked at them. It was soft but the designs on it made it have a weird texture. "What do I do with this?"

Darien blinked as he raised an eyebrow. She was joking, right? "You use it to take the food off of your lap."

Serenity blushed as she opened it and took the egg off of her lap. She then looked in her hand of the little rolled up ball in her hand. "Here." Darien said as he held out his hand.

Serenity looked at the little crumpled up ball in her hand before giving it to him. He then stood up and walked over to the trash and threw it away. When he came back into the living room he grabbed he's backpack. "We're leaving." He told her as he walked over to the door.

"Oh." She mumbled as she stood up. She walked over to Clare and handed her the plate.

Serenity then followed Darien and Clare out the door. The three of them trudged through what was left of the sand. When they neared the parking lot Serenity started at a big metal thing sitting there. "What's that?" She asked as she pointed at the cream colored car.

"That's a car." Darien told Serenity as he and Clare stepped over the curb separating the sand from the pavement, Serenity who was more fascinated by the car than anything didn't see the steps and tripped over the curb.

"OW!" She yelled as she sat up.

Her knee was scraped up. It wasn't that bad, but it really hurt. She felt tears well up in her eyes and she began to cry. Darien bent down next to her to take a look at her knee. "I have a firs-aid kit in the car." Clare told them as she walked to the car.

Darien looked up from Serenity's knee and saw that she was crying. "It's alright." Darien told her as he reached a hand up and brushed away a tear.

Clare ran back over to them and handed him a first aid-kit. He opened it up and took out some rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball. He put some rubbing alcohol onto the cotton ball. Before he applied it to her knee he looked at her. "This might sting."

When he pressed the cotton ball to her wound it did sting. A lot. Though instead of crying she shut her eyes tight. "I'm done now." Darien told her a moment later.

Serenity opened her eyes and saw him putting a band-aid on her knee. "Thank you." She said as they both stood up.

"You need to be careful." He told her as he picked up the first-aid kit.

The three of them walked over to the car. Serenity noticed that it had a dent or two in the back and as couple of scratches. When they reached the car Darien opened the back door for her. "Here you go." He told her.

Serenity smiled as she climbed into the back seat. "Thank you, again."

Darien smiled at her as he closed the door. He and Clare then got in the front. Serenity looked to her right and noticed a gray strap with a silver thing attached to it. She took it into her hands and looked at it curiously. When she found that it stretched out she let it go and it retracted. Darien then looked over his shoulder at her. "Buckle up, please." He said to her.

She looked to her left and saw a plastic contraption with a red button and a little slit. She slid the metal thing into the slit to see what it would do. When she heard a click she giggled happily that she figured it out.

As soon as she had the seatbelt on Clare started the car and drove them to the school. As they were driving into San Diego Serenity looked out the window as they passed things by. She looked at everything with wide eyes. Though the things that she was really interested in was the trees and buildings. When they pulled in front of a building where a lot of young humans were Clare stopped driving. "We're here." She told them.

"Bye mom." Darien said as they got out of the car.

"Bye." Serena waved before she turned to face the school.

When she turned around she looked at the school she noticed a lot of people going in and out one building. She wanted to ask why but as Darien walk towards it she followed him. "Welcome to my school." He told her as he opened the door.

She followed closely behind Darien as they walked down the hall. When he opened a door and went inside she stayed where she was, not sure if she should go in or not. "Come on." He told her from inside the room.

When she went inside they got a guest pass for her saying that it was okay that she was there. They left the office and went through another door that led outside before going into a smaller building. "My first class is Marine Biology." He told her as he opened the door that led to the class. As soon as they were inside Serenity gasped.

**AN: I wasn't really expecting Darien to be in this story so soon. When I was writing his name just kind of popped onto the paper. I thought about changing it, but then I thought who better to share her little adventures with. **


	5. Chapter 4

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 4:**

When she went inside they got a guest pass for her saying that it was okay that she was there. They left the office and went through another door that led outside before going into a smaller building. "My first class is Marine Biology." He told her as he opened the door that led to the class. As soon as they were inside Serenity gasped.

She left his side and walked over to a tank full of fish dead. As she bent down next to the tank her eyes welled up with tears, those poor fish. Darien crept up behind her and saw her reflection in the tank. Was she crying? "What's wrong?" He asked her.

Serenity wiped away her tears as she stood up. "Those fish should've been swimming freely." She told him. "Why are they here?"

Darien blinked. She was worried about fish yet she ate chicken eggs earlier. "We're using them today. We're going to dissect them and study the insides."

Serenity started at him with wide eyes. "That's so cruel!" She yelled. "Those fish we're living creatures. They should've been swimming when they died. Not here!"

Darien started at her. "Why do you care? You ate chicken eggs this morning." He yelled at her.

Serenity's tears fell down her face. Not only did she find dead fish but she also found out that she ate another creature and now he was yelling at her. She then ran out of the room. Darien looked at the clock. Seven minutes until the bell rang.

…

Serenity ran down the hallway. She had no idea where to go. She ran into a corner and sat down and began crying a littler harder. Her day was going horrible. When she heard footsteps she thought it was Darien and got a little mad. "Go away!" She yelled.

"Alright." Came a voice that did not belong to Darien. "I just wanted to see if you were all right."

Serenity looked up and saw a blonde haired young man standing there. He was wearing a white tee shirt and a pair of tan slacks. "I'm sorry." She apologized as she stood up. "I thought you were someone else."

The man just smiled. "It's alright." He told her. "My name's Andrew. Are you new here?"

Serenity smiled. "I'm Serenity and I'm not new here. I'm just visiting Darien's classes for the day." She explained to Andrew as she dusted off the back of her dress.

Andrew blinked. "Oh, is he the one that upset you? That's not like him." Andrew told her. "I should know he's my best friend."

"Andrew! Serenity!" Came a voice from down the hall.

They turned around and saw Darien running over to them. When he reached them he stood there for a few moments trying to catch his breath. "I'm sorry." He said to Serenity after a moment or two. "I didn't mean to yell at you."

Serenity stood there thinking. She wasn't sure what to say. First he yelled at her and then he apologized to her. She sighed. She wanted to forgive him and that's when she made a decision. "I'll forgive you." She told him. "On one condition. You ask your teacher not to dissect those poor innocent fish."

Andrew looked at the both of them. He wanted to know what was going on between them though he deiced to wait until Gym class to ask. "I got to go. See you guys later." Andrew told them as the bell rang.

"We have to go too and I will ask my teacher if we cannot dissect those fish." He told her as they started to walk down the hall.

"Alright."

The two of them walked down the hall to the class. Darien poked his head into the classroom to make sure his teacher wasn't there yet when he saw no signs of the teacher the entered the class. He showed her to the row where he sat and grabbed a stool and put it next to him. After they where seated along with the other students the teacher entered the class. "Hello everyone. Today we're going to be dissecting fish."

When Darien glanced over at Serenity he saw that she was on the verge of tears. He then sighed and raised his hand. "Yes, what is it Darien?"

"Mrs. Elder, um, can we please skip the dissection?" He asked.

Mrs. Elder looked at him strangely. The best student in the entire class was asking to skip an assignment. "Darien, is something wrong?" She asked him. "You never want to skip an assignment."

Darien shook his head as he looked at Serenity who just sighed heavily. "No Ma'am. Nothing's wrong." He told his teacher. He could tell Serenity wasn't all too happy, but at least he tried.

During the entire class period Serenity sat with her head buried in her arms. She didn't want to see those poor fish being cut open. Darien dissected his fish as quietly as possible. He knew Serenity was upset and he didn't want to upset her anymore. After class he made sure that he threw away the fish before escorting Serenity to his other classes.

The rest of the classes until lunch Serenity had no clue what was going on. Though her favorite was his P.E. class. They fascinated her as they chased a little round object. The object had black and white spots. Though the thing that fascinated her most was why one side wanted to score on the opposite side and when they scored they were cheering. Though she didn't know why they didn't touch it with their hands. After class she asked him and he tried to explain it to her but she got confused and they dropped it.

During lunch he got two pieces of pizzas for them to eat. They sat together in front of the school and he handed her the pizza. "What's this?" She asked.

"It's called Pizza and it's our lunch." He told her. He had gotten used to her asking him things that people usually know.

"Hey Dare." Andrew said to them as he sat next to them. While they were getting changed for P.E. Andrew had asked about Serenity and Darien explained everything that had happened. "Hi Serenity."

"Hey Drew, what's up?" Darien asked.

"Well, there's going to be a party tonight at Jason Morse's house. Everyone on the soccer team is invited and of course their dates." Andrew told them. "You can bring Serenity as your date."

Darien let out a big sigh. "I don't know Drew."

"Can we go please?" She asked him "I like parties." It was true, she did like parties and wanted to know what a human party was like.

Darien looked at her in shock. All day she had been asking him what things were, but she knew what a party was. He sighed when he looked her in the eyes. "Alright, we'll go." He told Andrew.

"Great, I'll go tell Jason." Andrew told them as he got up and ran over to where the rest of the soccer team was. As soon as they finished lunch the bell rang. They went to one more class before attending the last one. "My next class is creative writing and I think we're doing sea life." He explained to her as they went in and sat down.

Serenity's face brightened as they entered the class. Being a mermaid she knew a lot about sea life. "Can I help?" She asked.

"Sure." Darien said as they sat down in an empty seat.

The teacher then came into the class. "Okay, we're switching from sea life to mythical creatures." She told the class. "Today you're going to be writing about mermaids."

_'Mermaid?' _She thought to herself. _'Why are they calling mermaids mythical creatures? We're not mythical. I'm a mermaid for crying out loud.' _Serenity said nothing though as she let the teacher talk.


	6. Chapter 5

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 5:**

The teacher then came into the class. "Okay, we're switching from sea life to mythical creatures." She told the class. "Today you're going to be writing about mermaids."

_'Mermaid?' _She thought to herself. _'Why are they calling mermaids mythical creatures? We're not mythical. I'm a mermaid for crying out loud.' _Serenity said nothing though as she let the teacher talk.

The teacher passed out a piece of paper with what she wanted on the assignment. Darien took the paper from his teacher and handed her the pass for Serenity. She looked at it for a moment before handing it back to them. Darien sighed as he took out a notebook and a pencil. He began tapping his pencil and raised his hand. "Yes?" The teacher asked him.

"Can she help me?"

The teacher looked up at Serenity who was looking around the room and smiled. "Of course."

After the teacher left he turned to the princess. "Can you help me?" He asked her.

Serenity looked at him and blinked. "Sure." She told him. "I though you were doing sea life, but I'll still help because I like mermaids. What are you doing?"

"We have to write a half page describing a mermaid." He told her as he read the paper.

Serenity giggled happily. She could describe a mermaid very easily since she was one. "I can help with that easily." She told him. They then began writing it on paper.

After class they had half a page that they both liked. Darien had insisted that they base it off of her since she reminded him of a mermaid. Serenity said nothing unless it was a suggestion as they wrote it. She wanted to tell him, yet she didn't want to tell him. He reread it before he handed it in:

_A young mermaid swam in the ocean. Her fin was a light pink like cotton candy and sparkled whenever she sat on a rock. Her soft golden hair fell around her shoulders. Her skin was porcelain white and her light blue eyes were of a cloudless day. On her head she wore a golden tiara for she was the mermaid princess and she was swimming home after a long journey. _

Serenity was surprised about how little she suggested that he put in. She had got him to change the hair length and about the color of the fin. He had come up with everything else. When he read it to her she was really shocked of home much it reminded her of her, but she didn't want to tell him that she was a mermaid. Let alone the mermaid princess.

After creative writing school was over. Serenity followed him out to the parking lot wondering what to do now. She also wondered why he was headed over to a red car. Where was the cream colored car from earlier? "Where are we going?" She asked as they neared the car. "Where's your mother?"

"She's working at one of her jobs so Andrew's taking us back to my place." He told her when they reached the car. "Hey Drew."

"Hi Darien." Said Andrew. "Hey Serenity. Get in and I'll take you guys back to Darien's place."

Once they were in the car Serenity found the same contraption that she saw in the other one. She was very happy when it did the same thing. Andrew then started the car and drove them to the beach. Once they reached the beach parking lot the two of them got out and said bye to Andrew. As they walked to his house Serenity made sure to step over the curb this time.

When they reached his house Serenity sat in the living room. As Darien walked into his bedroom to put his backpack away Serenity saw a DVD lying on the table. She picked it up and looked at it. "What's this?" She asked when she came out.

Darien sat next to her and took the DVD out of her hands. The DVD she was looking at was _The Little Mermaid. _"Oh, it's a movie." He told her. His cousin must've been there earlier since she did have a copy of the movie. "I told you what a movie was earlier. You remember what a movie is right?"

Serenity nodded. "I just never have seen one in a case. Can we watch it?"

Darien chuckled as he stood up and put it in the DVD player. He then looked at the clock. They had a little time before Andrew came and picked them up for the party. "Alright, we can watch it." He told her as he turned the TV on.

About two and a half hours later Serenity was cuddled up against him, not that he minded. He head was on his shoulder and her hands were folded under her check. This was the closet he'd ever been with a young woman. When he went on dates before he always stayed at least 5 inches form them. Not that he didn't like them, it's just he didn't feel comfortable with being close and showing public displays of affection. That's why he didn't currently have a girlfriend. Though for some reason he didn't find having her close or showing displays of affection towards her.

Serenity sat up and sighed. This was the first movie she had watched about a merfolk and frankly she was disappointed about human's knowledge of merfolk. Something's weren't true like talking to crabs and seagulls. There was no such thing as a sea witch and the merfolk kingdom was in the Pacific Ocean not the Atlantic.

Darien glanced over at her and saw the look on her face. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

"The movie is wrong about merfolk." She told him.

Darien started at her before clearing his throat. "How do you know so much about merpeople?" He asked her. What was she getting upset about it was just a movie.

Serenity sighed as she stood up. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright." He told her as he looked at the clock. "We have ten more minutes before Andrew comes and picks us up."

"Okay, are we going like this?" She asked him, indicating to their clothes.

"Yeah, if you don't mind. Besides we look fine." He told her.

Serenity smiled as she walked into the kitchen. "Can I have something to drink?"

"Sure." Darien said as he got up and walked into the kitchen. He opened the fridge to see what they had. "Let's see, we have milk, juice, and water. So, what will it be?"

"Water please."

"Okay." He said as he took a bottle of water out of the fridge. "Here."

He opened the bottle before he handed it to her. She took it and began to drink it. It tasted good. All day she had been out of the water and she kind of missed it. Though drinking it was as close as she could come to being in the water. When she was done she set it on the counter.

They then headed out to Andrew's car. Darien knew his mom wouldn't know that they were gone since she worked late at a restaurant. He had been to these kinds of parties at least once or twice. He never really liked them. Plus he never drank anything because he wanted his mom to trust him. He knew that some idiot either brought beer or vodka or spike another kind of drink. Besides he didn't know if he could handle alcohol. His father was an alcoholic who left them with nothing.

"So, where's your date?" Darien asked when they got in.

"She's meeting us there." Andrew told them as he started to drive to Jason's house.

When they reached Jason's house the three of them got out of the car. Darien frowned when he saw a bunch of people there. "I thought you said only the soccer team was invited." He said to Andrew.

"Yeah ALL three of the soccer teams; Freshman, JV, and Varsity. Plus they almost all have dates." Andrew told them.

Darien sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Come on, we're leaving." He said to Serenity.

Serenity sighed as she ran down the street after him. When she caught up she grabbed him by his wrist. "Can't we stay? Pretty please." She begged.

With other girls when they wanted him to go to a party with them he had no problem saying no. With her there was something about her that made him not want to give her what ever she asked him. He shook his head. "Okay, okay. We'll stay." He told her.

She hugged him happily before they went inside. _'It's just one party. What could possibly go wrong?' _Darien thought as the door shut behind them.


	7. Chapter 6

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 6:**

She hugged him happily before they went inside. _'It's just one party. What could possibly go wrong?' _Darien thought as the door shut behind them.

When they were inside the house Serenity watched a bunch of humans dancing, talking, drinking, making out, and a few were even smoking god knows what. She was surprised of how humans had parties. When the two of them walked from the doorway and over to a staircase there was a table set out with food and drinks. "Don't drink anything." He told her.

Serenity just shrugged as she stood there with him watching people dance. She was studying them when a brown haired young man walked up to them. "Hey babe." He said to Serenity. "Wanna go have a little private party of our own upstairs?"

Serenity stared at the young man blankly. She had no idea what he was talking about. She thought that there was already a party going on and why did he want to have another one upstairs. Darien knew what the guy was asking her for and he got jealous. Though with the look on her face he knew she had know idea what the guy was talking about. He sighed as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "She can't. She's with me." He told the guy.

"Whatever." The guy said as he walked away.

Serenity sighed as soon as the guy was out of earshot. "What did he want?" She asked over the music.

"He wanted to go upstairs and have sex with you. I saw that you had no idea what he was talking about so I told him no." He explained to her.

"Thanks, but all I really want to do is learn how to dance. I want someone whose standing next to me to teach me to dance to this kind of music." She told as the music turned to slow music.

He smiled at her as they walked to the center of the room. "Okay, I'll teach you how to dance. Wrap your arms around my neck." He instructed her. She nodded as she did what she was told. "Now, I'll wrap my arms around your waist and all we do is sway with the music."

As they were dancing Serenity got so comfortable that she laid her head on his chest. Darien looked down and saw her head resting there. He smiled to himself and kissed the top of her head. A minute or two later they noticed that they were the only two that were still close and they began to blush. "I'm going to get some water from the sink." She told him slowly that he could've corrected her if she was wrong. Darien smiled as he leaned against the wall. He had told her not to drink anything, but he thought that it would be fine if it was from the tap.

When Serenity was in the kitchen she saw a bottle of something that looked like water. She grabbed an empty class and poured the liquid into the class. When she started to drink it she realized that it wasn't water, but she liked it. So she had a couple more cups of it before she walked back over to Darien.

As she was walking over to him Darien noticed her stumbling. "What did you drink?" He asked her. "I thought you were going to have water?"

"It looked like water, but it tasted better." She told him through slurred words.

Darien started at her with wide eyes. She had drank alcohol. He knew something was going to happen, he should've trusted his instincts other then asking what could go wrong. He sighed as he went over to Serenity and picked her up. "What are you doing?" She asked with her words all slurred.

"We're leaving." He told her as he walked through the door with her swung over his shoulders.

As they walked down the street Serenity began kicking. She didn't like being carried liked that. Darien didn't set her down though. He didn't want her walking around drunk she could walk in front of a car. A hour later they reached Darien's house. Once they were inside he set her down on the ground. "You're going to bed." He told her as they walked into his room. He then picked her up and laid her down on the bed.

When he was about to leave the room she pulled him over to her by his arm. He stood there for a moment, confused of what she was doing until she pulled him on top of her and began kissing him on his lips. For a moment Darien stood there with wide eyes letting her kiss him before he began kissing her back.

They were kissing for at least five minutes when he began kissing her neck. As he was kissing her neck she ran her fingers through his hair. Darien thought about stopping and thinking about what they were doing, but he couldn't. A few minutes later their clothes were on the floor. He asked her if she wanted to stop several times but she said no. As the progressed Serenity came to realized that she wasn't that drunk. She knew what she was doing.

Before either of them realized they were having sex with someone they had only meet that day. When they were done Serenity began drifting off to sleep. As she was falling asleep she reasoned that it was the best birthday ever. As Darien fell asleep he couldn't believe that he had just had sex with a drunk, young woman who probably had no idea what she was doing.


	8. Chapter 7

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 7:**

A few hours later Serenity woke up. He head was pounding and her body hurt like hell, but she was happy. She closed her eyes and thought what happened a few hours earlier and smiled. Then looked to her right and saw an alarm clock. It was 11:50. She had ten minutes to get dressed and get to the beach. She climbed out of bed and proceeded to get dressed. Darien heard her and opened his eyes. "What are you doing?" He asked her when he saw her getting dressed.

She turned around and gasped. She was trying to get out of there with out him seeing her. "I need to go." She told him as she put her dress on.

"What!" Darien yelled as he got out of bed and got dressed himself. "Why are you leaving?"

"I can't tell you. I just have to go."

"You can't just come here for one, sleep with me, and then leave!" He yelled.

Serenity looked at him and tears filled her eyes. "I told you I can't tell you so just let me leave." She told him as she ran out of the room.

Darien sighed as he followed her out of the house and onto the beach. What was going on? She knew he was following her. She didn't want to leave, but she had to go back home. She then suddenly turned to face him. "I have to tell you that this has been the best birthday ever." She told him. She then stood up on her toes and kissed him on the lips. "Thank you."

Darien just stood there and let her kiss him. "Serenity, just tell me why you're leaving." He asked her as she started to back up into the water.

Wait, why was she going into the ocean? Was she…but that was impossible. Mermaids didn't exist, or did they?

…

Amy, Raye, Lita, and Mina were watching Serenity from behind a rock. They wanted to know who was with her. They knew it was someone she must've met but why had he followed her. Mina then told them quietly that they had to ask her who he was. Everyone agreed.

…

"Could you close your eyes please?" She asked him.

He didn't want to, but he did what she asked him to do. He thought she was going to either kiss him or run but was surprised when he heard the water splashing. He opened his eyes and saw her swimming. "Bye." He said to no one in particular.

When she dove back into the water he saw a fin and that's when his suspicions were confirmed that she was indeed a mermaid. He sat down on the beach and sighed. What was he going to do know? The only girl that he had really liked had turned out to be a mermaid.

…

Serenity swam towards her friends who were waiting for her by the rock. "Hey everyone." She greeted them.

"Hey." All the girls said together as they hugged her.

"So, how was it?" Raye asked as they all began to swim towards the palace.

"Fine." She told them.

Mina blinked. Just fine? Whenever Serenity came back from an adventure she always was excited to tell them what happened. "Who was the guy on the beach with you?" Lita asked when they reached the palace.

Serenity sighed. "Look, I don't want to talk about it right now. I just want to sleep, okay?"

The four looked at each other and shrugged as Serenity went into her room. She laid down on her bed and tried to fall asleep thinking about the day. The only part that she was upset about was leaving. She hoped that he didn't see her when she dove into the water a second time, but she would worry about that later. Right now sleep was the first ting on her mind.

…

When Darien woke up he was still on the beach. He hadn't gone home in hopes that Serenity would come back. As he waited he must've fallen asleep. He sighed as he watched the ocean. She was a mermaid he couldn't believe it. He thought that he was seeing things at first but then he remembered when she said that movie was wrong about mermaids.

_Darien glanced over at her and saw the look on her face. "What's wrong?" He asked her._

"_The movie is wrong about merfolk." She told him._

_Darien started at her before clearing his throat. "How do you know so much about merpeople?" He asked her. What was she getting upset about it was just a movie._

_Serenity sighed as she stood up. "I don't want to talk about it."_

He stood up and dusted all of the sand off of himself before walking back to his house. "Hey." Clare greeted him as he came through the door. "Where's Serenity?"

Darien sighed as he sat down on the couch. "She's gone."

"She's gone? You mean like she left?" Clare asked. "Why did she leave?"

"I really don't want to talk about it. I'm going to do my homework." He said as he got up and walked into his room.

…

Serenity woke up a while later. Today was her birthday celebration. She sighed she swam over to her vanity. As she began brushing her hair Amy, Raye, Lita, and Mina swam into the room. "Hey, are you ready for the celebration yet?" Lita asked as Serenity put on a pink pearl necklace.

"No." She told them. "I'm not."

The princess then began crying. The four other looked at each other before Raye went over to her. "What's wrong?" The black haired mermaid asked.

"I don't know. My birthday was fine and all, but I think it was spent with the most wonderful and interesting human…" Serenity was cut off buy her mother coming into the room.

"Are you ready for the celebration honey?" Queen Darya asked as Serenity placed a tiara on her head.

Serenity looked at her mother confused. "I thought it was a two, not noon."

The queen smiled gently as she brushed a strand of hair out of her daughter's eyes. "Your father wanted to start it early."

"Wait, he's here?"

"Yeah, he finished his business yesterday when you were gone." The queen told them as she left the room.

The five of them looked at each other before following her mother. They went into the throne room were the girls joined the rest of the guests. The princess and the queen joined the king at his throne. When everyone was settled the ceremony started with her father making a speech. "Welcome friends and honored guests. Today we are gathered here for the sixteenth birthday celebration of my daughter, Princess Serenity." He began. "I only hope that today we can celebrate another joyous occasion. I have an announcement to make. As you all know sixteen is the age to marry so I would like to announce the engagement between my daughter, Princess Serenity to Diamond, the duke of the Artic Ocean."


	9. Chapter 8

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 8:**

Serenity started at her father in shock. He had just announced that she was getting married. She had only been sixteen for a day and now she was being told she had to get married. A white haired merman who was next to her father, though Serenity didn't recall seeing him there, bowed his head before speaking. "Thank you, your highness. I am honored to be marring your beautifully daughter." Diamond told the king and everyone in the room. "I'm sure I can make her very happy."

The king smiled at him before tuning back to everyone. "Now, let the celebration begin."

When everyone began to mingle Serenity went over to her father. She wanted to talk to him about her engagement. She was gone one day and when she comes back she's engaged to the duke of the Arctic Ocean. "Father." She started. "I'm engaged?"

"Of course, Serenity." King Nereus told his daughter. "Diamond, I would like for you to meet my daughter, Serenity."

The merman her father was introducing her to had white hair and his eyes where dark and cold. His fin was a silver color. "Nice to meet you Serenity." He said smiling at her.

Serenity noticed that his smile was cold. Very different from Darien's smile, but she forced one onto her face. "It's nice to meet you as well." She greeted the duke.

For most of the evening Serenity tried her best to talk to Diamond, her father, and her mother. She guessed if she was going to marry him she might as well get to know him. Though as they were talking Serenity got bored. All Diamond would talk about was all of the great things he had done. Two hours later she swam over to her friends. "So, how's your fiancé?" Mina asked when she reached them.

"Boring. All he talks about is everything he's done. Which is a lot. He didn't even try to get to know me." She told them. "And then he started to talk about everything he could do as king. So I asked him what I could do to help and he just told me that I could just have children."

Lita frowned and shook her head. Serenity was a smart mermaid. She could be a good queen with an equal partnership with a king. "Well, let's not worry about it now. We only have an hour left so let's mingle."

The other four just laughed. They then visited with other merfolk and talked about different things. When the celebration was over the five went to Serenity's room.

…

Darien was staring at the ceiling in his room. He had finished his homework and was now bored. Clare had checked in on him a few times but each time he told her he didn't want to talk about it. There was a knock on the door only five minutes after his mom had last came into the room. "Mom, I already told you that I don't want to talk about anything."

"Uh, it's me. She just left for work. I wanted to see if you and Serenity wanted to go to a movie." Andrew said as he came into he room and looked around for the blonde. "Where's Serenity?"

"She's gone." He told Andrew as he sat up.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. She left on her own."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Hey Drew, what do you know about mermaids?" Darien asked as he changed the subject.

"Nothing." Andrew told him. "But we can find out at the library, so let's go." Darien nodded as they left to go to the library.

At the library the couldn't find a book just about mermaids, but they found a ton of books about mythological creatures. When they left the library they had checked out a ton of books. Once they were back at Darien's house they started to look information up about mermaids.

…

After the celebration the five of them sat in Serenity's room. The princess was obviously upset. The moment they came into the room she started crying. "Serenity," Amy started. "Please talk to us."

"You guys are such good friends." She told them. "I'll tell you what happened on land then."

Serenity then began to tell them everything. The girls listened to her talk and they were fascinated by her adventures and everything that she discovered. The thing that fascinated them the most was to hear her talk about Darien. Earlier she had tried to tell them about him but now she could really tell them about him. "He sounds wonderful." Mina said after a while.

"He is. Amy can I ask you a question?" Serenity asked the blue haired mermaid.

"Sure." Amy responded.

"Is it possible for a mermaid to fall in love with a human?"

The four gasped at Serenity's question. Was she referring to the one she had just told them about? If she was in love with him then that could be a problem.

**AN: Wow, I didn't think I'd be able to update today, but here's an update. Anyway, please review. **

**Princess Cornelia **


	10. Chapter 9

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 9:**

Darien was lying on the couch reading one of the books from the library. So far he had found very little information on mermaids. He sighed as he sat up. It gave him the same information as the last book he had read. He glanced over at Andrew who was lying on the floor sleeping. "Andrew!" He said as slammed the book in his hand shut.

"Huh?" Andrew asked as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Did you find anything?"

"The only thing I found was that mermaids were like sirens by seducing sailors with their voice causing them to crash their ship and die." Andrew read from the book.

"The only thing I found was that they're sometimes known as playful creatures and forget that man can't breath under water. There has been over a thousand sightings of mermaids." Darien told his friend.

Andrew got up and sat next to Darien on the couch. "Why are you so obsessed about finding information on mermaids?" Andrew asked. "They're mythical creatures."

"I can't tell you."

Andrew just shrugged. "Well, if you think you saw one I also read that seals and dugongs are often mistaken for mermaids."

Darien frowned. He knew for a fact that she wasn't a seal or a dugong. Serenity was a mermaid and he knew it. "We should return these books after school Monday." He told Andrew. "Anyway, you can go if you want."

Andrew shrugged. "We do have soccer practice tonight. Are you coming?"

"I forgot. Let me get changed." Darien said as he got up and went into his room to get changed into his soccer gear.

…

It took a while for the four mermaids to stop staring at her. Amy couldn't believe what Serenity had just asked her. "Well, I think anything is possible." Amy told the princess. "Why?"

Serenity blushed as she looked down. "I told you about Darien." Serenity told them.

"Oh, the human that you met." Lita said. "So, you're in love with him?"

Serenity nodded. "He's much better then Diamond. He let's me ask questions and when he answers it he explains it. Diamond only let me ask one question and after he answered it he went right back to talking about himself." Serenity explained.

Mina sighed. "You must really like him."

"I just wish I could tell him. I wanted to, but I had to leave."

Lita sat there thinking for a moment. "You should tell him and I have an idea of how you can do that." The brunette told the princess as she swam off.

…

During soccer practice Darien missed every goal he shot or tripped over the ball when he tried to kick it. That wasn't like him. After practice he sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. He was wondering if him thinking about Serenity had anything to do with it. "Darien, can I talk to you?" The coach asked.

"Sure."

"I'm concerned about you. You never mess up. Is anything bothering you?"

Darien sighed. "I have a lot of things on my mind right now. Sorry coach."

"Well, if you need to talk to someone you can talk to me."

"Thanks, but I'd rather deal with this myself. I've got to get home, Andrew's waiting for me." He told the coach as he picked up his bag and walked to Andrew's car.

…

About an hour later Lita came back. In her hand was a tiny vile of pink liquid. "Here." She said as she handed it to Serenity. "Take this and it'll make you human for a week. That way you can not only tell him how you feel but you can also spend time with him."


	11. Chapter 10

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 10:**

The girls stared at Lita. Did she say what they thought she said? "Where did you get that?" Raye asked the brunette.

Lita looked at the vile she had just handed Serenity. "Oh, my mother made it as a birthday present for Serenity." She told everyone.

Amy blinked as she took the vile from Serenity. "I thought merfolk weren't aloud to practice any type of magic?" The blue haired mermaid asked as she studied the pink liquid.

Lita frowned. "Please don't tell anyone. She inherited magical skills from my grandmother and she wants to use them so please don't tell anyone." She begged them.

The four smiled at their friend. They knew that it could mean big trouble if Serenity's father ever found out. "Don't worry. We won't tell anyone." Raye told Lita, trying to calm her down.

Serenity took the vile from Amy and inspected it. The pink liquid only reached the half way in the bottle. "So, this will make me human for a week." She repeated what Lita had told her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, to me it seems that it can't possible work. It's only half full."

"It does, everything my mother makes works."

Serenity sighed. "Well, if it means spending time with Darien and telling how I feel I'll take it."

The five of them swam to the surface. When they reached the surface Serenity turned to her friends. "How am I going to explain my absence?" She asked the girls.

"Don't worry, we'll cover for you." Raye told her.

Serenity smiled as she climbed up onto the beach. "You guys are the best. Good luck." She told them as she popped off the top. When the top was off she drank the potion. When she was human again she stood up. "Bye."

…

Darien took Rex on a walk on the beach. As they walked along the beach he saw Serenity sitting on the beach in a pink dress. When she stood up and brushed off her dress he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. She was back.

Rex then ran over to her while barking. Serenity saw Rex and stumbled backwards. "Rex, come here!" He yelled as he followed the dog.

Serenity looked up and saw Darien running over to where she was. When he reached her she took a deep breath in trying to think of something to say to him. "Hi." She greeted finally setting on that.

"Hi." He said. "What are you going here? I thought you were a mermaid. Shouldn't you be in the water?"

Serenity looked at him in shock. He knew, but how did he find out. It didn't mater though. If he knew then she and her people were in trouble. "How did you find out?" She asked him.

"I saw your fin when you dived into the ocean." He told her as they began to walk. "Are you here for a day again?"

"No, I'm here for a week this time. My friend Lita got a potion that turned me human for a week, much longer then last time. Last time was my birthday wish to turn human, but it only lasted a day. Look, I know I left right after we slept together and I'm sorry, but I'm here to talk to you."

Darien shrugged once they reached his house. "Maybe I don't want to talk to you."

Serenity sighed as she hung her head and started to walk back to the beach. "Then I guess I came back for nothing." She told him when she reached the later.

Darien rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'm kidding. Why don't you come inside and I'll make something for us to eat."

"Okay."

…

Amy, Raye, and Mina swam back to the palace to get the plan in motion. Lita however went to her mother. They needed a look-a-like potion for their plan to work. However when she asked her mother her mother told her that she looked it up and couldn't find a look-a-like potion. Lita shook her head as she swam back to tell the others.

"Bad news." Lita told the other three as she swam into Serenity's room. "I can't get the look-a-like potion. My mother says one doesn't exist."

The other three groaned. What were they going to do now? They needed that potion. Mina sat on the bed and they all began thinking. Mina was thinking so hard that she didn't notice the other three staring at her. When she did she got nervous. "What?" She asked.

"Mina, you look the most like Serenity. Why don't you pretend to be her?" Raye asked the blonde. "We'll just say that Serenity's sick and you can stay in bed so no one will know it's you."

"Fine." Min said as she swam over to Serenity's vanity.

Mina took the red bow out of her hair and set it down on the vanity. She then brushed and styled her hair to look like Serenity's before she got into the bed. When she was lying down the girls made sure that her fin was covered so no one would find out that it was really Mina under there. "We should go." Amy told the others. "If we stay in here 'without' Mina then it's going to raise some questions. We'll be back later to check on you."

As soon as the girls were about to leave the queen came into the room. "What's wrong with Serenity and where's Mina." The queen asked the girls.

"Mina went home to help her mother with something and Serenity's sick." Raye told the queen.

As soon as they other three left the room the queen turned to the bed. "Are you alright?"

"Mhmm." Came a muffled voice from the bed.

"Are you sure?"

"Mhmm."

Queen Darya then turned to leave the room until she noticed a red bow sitting on the vanity. She then turned back to the bed. "What do you think of your fiancé, Mina?"

Mina's eye widened. How'd she find out that she wasn't Serenity? She looked down and saw her fin was covered but then she remembered that her bow was on the table. She then sat up and turned to the queen. I'm sorry, your highness." Mina apologized to the queen.

Queen Darya smiled. "It's alright Mina, but where's Serenity?"

Mina gulped as she looked at the queen. "On land."


	12. Chapter 11

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 11:**

Serenity and Darien sat at the coffee table an hour later eating meatloaf. They were talking about different things until Serenity felt like she should tell him. She was nervous, but felt like she needed to tell him. "Um, Darien. Can I tell you something?" She asked him.

Darien looked up from his dinner and over at her. "Of course." He told her after he swallowed a piece of meatloaf.

She smiled slightly at him before clearing her throat. "I've told you almost everything about me except for three things that I want to tell you now." She started to say. "I am a princess, I am engaged…"

Darien couldn't believe what he was hearing. First he found out that she was a mermaid, but she was also a princess and engaged a merman that was probably rich and better off then he was. He wanted to ask her why she was telling him this and decided to ask after she told him the third thing.

"And finally," She told him as she took in a deep breath. "I love you."

Darien looked at her with a surprised look on his face. She loved him, but why? "You love me?" He asked her.

Serenity nodded as she bit her lip. "I do and I'll understand if you don't feel the same way."

Darien sighed as he looked at her. "I do feel the same way. I love you too. I'm just confused of why you love me." He explained to her. "I mean I'm not rich nor am I a prince."

Serenity smiled sweetly at him. She was happy to hear him say that he loved her too. "I know that, but I love you because I enjoy being with you and even though even known each other for only a day or two but it feels so right being with you."

Darien smiled at her. "That's how I feel too."

…

Queen Darya started at Mina. She couldn't believe what she just heard. Mina had just said that Serenity was on land. Though the bigger question was how did she even turn human again. "Why is she on land?" She asked Mina sternly.

Mina flinched. She didn't want to lie to the queen, but she didn't want to betray her best friend either. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked at the queen. "I promised Serenity that I wouldn't tell anyone." She told the queen.

The queen glared at Mina. She wanted to know why Serenity was on land. She knew that her daughter's friends would never betray her daughter, but still she had to try and get something out of them.

"Alright, alright." Mina said as she took in a deep breath. "She's on land because she wants to tell a human boy that she loves him."

"WHAT!" The queen yelled at Mina.

"Uh, you're not going to tell king, are you?" Mina asked Darya. She knew that if they told the king that the consequences could be dire for Serenity.

Queen Darya looked at Mina. She didn't want to tell her husband what was going on, but she didn't like lying to him either. It was a though decision. "Yes, we are." She told Mina.

Mina felt a knot form in her stomach when they reached the throne room. She had a feeling that she was going to have to be the one to tell the king where Serenity was and why. When they swam inside the throne room the king was talking with the duke. They were talking about the wedding. The only part of the conversation Mina heard when Diamond asked if Serenity was still pure.

The king was about to answer when the door shut. They both looked in the direction of the door. "Hello ladies, is something the matter?" King Nereus asked the queen and Mina.

"Yes, Serenity is gone." Queen Darya told Nereus. "She's on land."

"WHAT!" Both of the mermen yelled.

"Why is she on land?" The king yelled.

The queen pushed Mina in front of her. Mina tired to swallow the lump in her throat. "She turned human to tell a human man that she loves him." Mina explained to the king.

King Nereus raised an eyebrow. He then began to laugh. Hearing his daughter was in _love _with a human was the funniest thing he had ever heard. There was no way that Serenity could be on land. "No really, where is she?"

When the expressions on Minako and Queen Darya's face didn't change he frowned. Why was his daughter on land? And why was she in love with a human? "Come on, we're going on land and getting her back." King Nereus told them. "How'd she become a human, Mina?"

Mina wanted to cry. They promised Lita that they wouldn't say that her mother practiced magic. She knew that she could get in big trouble if she didn't tell the king, however. She finally sighed. She hoped her friends could forgive her. "Alright, Lita's mother, Kiya gave her a potion to turn her human for a week."

The king then looked at the duke and the queen. They knew that they were going to have to get a potion from Kiya to turn themselves into humans. The three of them then swam off to see Kiya. Mina then began crying; afraid her friends would hate her for telling the king and queen everything.

Kiya set some bottles on a table in front of a pot with her latest potion inside. When she heard a knock on her door she opened it. "Your highness'" She gasped when she saw them. "How can I help you?"

"We need a potion." King Nereus told Kiya.

Kiya gasped. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She told them nervously as she tried to hide her books.

King Nereus glared at Kiya. "We know you made Serenity a potion that turned her human again. If you give us a potion to turn us human then we'll pretend we never saw this."

Kiya bit her lower lip. She wanted to keep practicing magic. She knew if she didn't do as they say that they could take it all from her. "Alright, I'll make you each a potion."

Kiya gathered all the ingredients from the cupboards and began mixing them together. When she was finished she poured them into three vials. "Here." She said, handing them each a vile.

"Thanks." The king said, snatching the bottle from her.

The three of them then swam up to the surface. When they were sitting on the beach they all popped off the tops of their vials and drunk them. A few minutes later they were wearing human clothes and had legs. Yes, they were human. Darya looked around the beach and sighed. They had a lot of ground to cover when looking for Serenity. She hoped they could find her in a week.

**AN: School has started everyone. That means slower updates. Anyway, please review. **

**Princess Cornelia**


	13. Chapter 12

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 12:**

The next morning Serenity woke up with the sun in her eyes. She groaned as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She glanced over at Darien and saw that he was asleep. She then climbed out of the bed and wandered into the kitchen. Serenity guessed that his mother was asleep so she was as quiet as possible.

Serenity brushed some bangs out of her eyes as she opened the fridge. She was hungry and wanted to eat something. In the fridge she found a red round object. Serenity took it into her hands and studied it for a while before biting into it. It was crunchy and juicy at the same time. She liked it, a lot.

Five minutes after she left Darien woke up. He looked next to him and saw that she was gone. He jumped out of bed and pulled on a shirt before leaving the room. When he entered the living room he saw Serenity sitting in the couch trying to untangle her hair. "Good morning." He said as she went into the kitchen and grabbed a yogurt.

"Morning." She greeted as he sat next to her. "Do you have a hairbrush?"

"Yeah, I'll go get it." He told her as he set the yogurt on the table. He then stood up and walked over to the bathroom. A few moments later he came back and handed it to her. "Here." Serenity just smiled at him as she took the brush.

When she finished brushing her hair she put it up in her normal style. "Hey, can we go for a walk this morning?" She asked as she set the brush on the coffee table.

Darien looked over at her and smiled gently. "Sure, spring break has started anyway. So I have no school." He told her as they stood up.

…

Darya woke up and looked around. It was the next morning. The three of them had slept on the beach before starting their journey. The other two had woken up just before her. "Good morning." She said to them.

"Morning." They both responded.

"Well, should we go look for Serenity?" She asked both of them.

Nereus looked at her and sighed. "I guess." He replied as they stood up. Yesterday they had practiced walking.

Diamond looked down the beach and walking along the edge. The female's hairstyle looked exactly Serenity's hairstyle. He gasped. "Um, your highness. Isn't that Serenity?" He questioned.

Darya and Nereus looked at the female and gasped. It was in fact Serenity. She appeared to be walking with a male human. Darya smiled, she had never seen her daughter look happier.

…

Serenity smiled as they walked along the beach. Though as they were walking she saw three very familiar looking people. She gasped as she took a step back. "What's wrong?" Darien asked her when he saw the look in her eyes.

"My parents and fiancé are here." She told him.

Darien looked up at the three people and blinked. They were walking over to them. Two of them looked very mad and are one looked kind of happy. "Maybe you should talk to them." He told her.

Serenity bit her lip. Her father would just make her go back home and marry Diamond. "Please don't let them take me back." She told him as she wrapped her arms around his.

"Of course." He replied.

"Serenity!" King Nereus yelled at her. "Get over here."

All she though was squeezes Darien's arm harder. She didn't want go. "Serenity, honey, can we talk?" Darya asked her.

"Yes, but I'm not moving."

Darya sighed. "Serenity, you have to come home."

"Why?"

"If you didn't then we'd all miss you. You're also my only child. Not only that, but you are the only heir to the throne." The queen explained to her daughter all the reasons she should return home.

As Serenity listened to her mother she knew her mother was right. Though she didn't want to go home. She loved Darien and didn't want to leave him. "I don't want to go home." She told them flatly. "I know, everything you told me is true but I don't want to leave Darien. I love him."

Nereus frowned. His daughter did not just say that she loved a human. So it was true. "Serenity you are coming home with us right now." He told her sternly.

Her father was very scary when he was Serenity glanced up at Darien before sighing. "I have to go, but I don't want to. I love you." She told him as she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the check.

"I love you too." He told her as he nodded.

"Now come along Serenity." The king said as they began walking once more.

…

Raye, who was watching from behind a rock, was getting very mad. It was obvious that he didn't want Serenity marry or love this nice young man. Raye looked down at the object in her hand. It was a veil, yes, but it was full of a potion to turn a human into a merperson. All she needed to do was get Darien's attention.

…

As they were walking Serenity remembered something. The potion was meant for a week, which meant in water they would be human too. She did get to spend a week with Darien after all. "Mother, Father, Diamond." She called to them as she stopped walking. "We can't just go home yet." She informed them.

King Nereus looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. What was she blabbing about? The potion! She was right; they were stuck in this form for a week. "Right, I forgot that we're stuck in this form for a week." The king said as he crossed his arms.

Darien smiled happily when he heard that. He got to be with Serenity longer. "If you guys want to you could stay at my place for a week. I mean I know it's not a palace, but it's the best we can do." He told them all.

Queen Darya smiled kindly at him. At that moment Darien knew where Serenity had gotten her smile from. "That's very kind of you. Of course we'll gladly take that offer since we would have no where else to stay."

Darien smiled as they all began to walk down the beach. As they walked it was very quiet. No one wanted to say anything. When they reached his house the other threes eyes winded. It wasn't fancy, he was right, but they weren't expecting anything that bad. They said nothing as they walked up the stairs. "Mom, I home." He called as they walked through the door.


	14. Chapter 13

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 13:**

Clare was up and drinking some coffee when she heard Darien come through the door. When she saw Serenity with him she nearly choked on her coffee. That…that GIRL who was broke her sons heart was back. "Serenity, I'm surprised to see you back here. I thought you found a way home." Clare asked flatly when the princess was in hearing range.

Serenity sighed. She had a feeling that Clare would be mad. She had after all broken her sons heart with her leaving so suddenly. "I did, but I decided to come back." The young woman told Clare.

Queen Darya, King Nereus, and Diamond all watched from the doorway. They were getting uncomfortable. Something was going on between the three of them but they didn't know what. "Um, Mom, I hope you don't mind but Serenity's parents and brother are here with her. I invited them to stay with us for a week." Darien told his mother as the three shuffled in from the door. He had called Diamond her brother because one, Serenity was much to young to have a fiancé on land and two because he didn't like the idea of her engaged.

Clare let out a heavy sigh as she looked at Serenity and the three strangers.

"Darien," She muttered. "We don't have the room for four other people. Please try and find somewhere else for them to stay. If you can't then they'll be sleeping on the deck." She told him as she grabbed her purse before leaving.

Darien sighed as his mother left. He probably should've thought about how much room they had before he invited them to stay. As he sat down in a chair he ran his fingers through his hair. Serenity sat across from him on the couch. "If we can't stay here then were are we going to stay?" She asked as she brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

Darien glanced over at her and shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I do have an idea." He told her as he took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. "I love you." He whispered to her.

"I love you too." Serenity whispered back.

The three others walked were staring at them. They were getting uncomfortable with those two being so close. Queen Darya then cleared her throat. "Do you have an idea where we're going to stay?" She asked as she sat down on the couch next to Serenity.

Darien glanced over at Darya and sighed. "I'm trying to figure that out." He told them as the other two sat down as well.

King Nereus looked around the small home and frowned. It wasn't very big and it wasn't nicely furnished. Those were two things he hated. "Can I talk to you outside?" The king then asked Darien.

"Sure." Darien replied as he stood up and went with the king outside.

For a moment it was an awkward silence between the two of them. King Nereus then cleared his throat a moment later. "As you know, I am Serenity's father. You do know about _us_, correct?" King Nereus asked the dark haired man.

"You mean about you guys being merpeople? Yeah, I know."

"The main reason why I wanted to talk to you is because I want you to know that you can never be with Serenity. She is not only a mermaid, but she is also a princess. You on the other hand aren't a merman or prince. So I want you to stay away from my daughter."

Darien sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. He loved Serenity and didn't want to give her up for anything. "No." He told the king simply.

"What?" The king stated he wasn't sure if he heard Darien correctly.

"I said no." Darien repeated. "I love her to much to stay away from her."

King Nereus glared at him. "You cannot be with her! It's impossible." The king yelled at him.

"I'll find away! I love her." Darien yelled as they king went back inside.

Darien sighed as he leaned against the railing. He wanted to be with Serenity, but he knew it would be hard. He was about ready to go inside until he heard a splashing noise. He looked down over the railing and saw a raven-haired mermaid. He raised an eyebrow as he went down the stairs. "Can I help you?" He asked once he had reached the young mermaid.

"Yes, my name is Raye. I'm one of Serenity's friends. I have something to give you." Raye told him as she handed him the vile.

Darien took the glass object and looked at it curiously. It looked like it had some sort of concoction in it. "What is it?"

"It's a potion that will turn you into a merman when they go back." Raye explained to him.

"For how long?"

Raye bit her lip. "Um, it would turn you into a merman forever." It was true. It was also the only potion that Kiya had found that transformed humans into merfolk.

Darien stared at it. If he became a merman he would have to give up everything for Serenity. Was his love for her that great? "That's a big decision. I'll need time to think about it."

"Of course. I must go now. Good bye." Raye said as she swam away.

After Raye left he put the vile into his pocket and went back inside. He had a big decision to make.


	15. Chapter 14

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 14:**

When he came back into the house Serenity walked over to him and hugged him happily. She was a bit nervous that he might've been hurt when he didn't come in with her father. "I'm so happy that you're alright." She told him. "I was afraid that he hurt you when you didn't come in together."

Darien smiled at her before bending down and kissing her on the check. "Of course I'm alright." He told her.

Diamond glared at Darien when he saw him kiss Serenity on the check. Why was that strange man kissing his fiancé cheek? He then glanced over at the king and saw him frowning.

Darya kept looking around the place. It was rather small, like his mother had said before she left. Though she didn't mind small places. She was used to them. Darya didn't grow up rich liker her daughter and husband had. She wondered if he didn't find another place for them to stay where they were going to sleep, on the deck, maybe. She glanced over at Diamond, he looked very mad. She then glanced over at Darien and Serenity. That must be why Diamond looked very mad. She began to wonder if Diamond was planning something in his head.

Darien sat in one of the chairs and Serenity sat in one right across from it. "If I can't find another place for you guys to stay then you'll have to sleep on the deck." He informed them. "I just have to make a quick phone call."

He grabbed the phone and stood up. He walked into the kitchen and dialed Andrew's number. He wanted to see if Andrew would take one or two of them in. "Hey Andrew," Darien greeted when he heard Andrew pick up his cell phone. "Can you come over for a while?"

"Why?" Andrew asked. Darien didn't normally ask him to come over unless it was for something important.

"I need your help with something."

Andrew was surprised yet again. Darien never asked him for help for anything. He began to wonder if Darien was in any trouble. "With what?"

"Please don't make me tell you over the phone. It'll be much easier to explain when you get here."

Andrew sighed. "Alright." He began. "I'll be there in five minutes."

After he hung his cell phone up Andrew sighed. What was going on and why didn't he want to tell him over the phone. He just ran his fingers through his hair as he took the turn that would eventually lead to Darien's house.

……

While Darien was on the phone with Andrew, Diamond stood up and walked over to Serenity, who was still sitting in the chair. He thought that he'd at least try and talk to her. _'If I talk to her I can show her that I'm better than that stupid human boy she seems to have a thing for.' _ He thought as he cleared his throat.

Serenity looked up from the spot she was looking at and up at him. "Can I help you?" She asked.

"I want to talk to you." He told her flatly. "Follow me please."

Serenity blinked before she stood and followed him out onto the deck. "What?" Serenity asked as soon as the front door was shut.

"Serenity," He began. "Why?"

Serenity looked at him strangely. "Why what?" She asked confused.

Diamond sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Why do you want him?" Diamond asked making his question clearer as he leaned against the railing.

Serenity sighed. "I want to be with him because I love him." She told Diamond. "Though I don't see why it's any of your business."

Diamond glared at her before walking over to her. "As soon as we're married I will not take that kind of tone from you." He told her sharply.

Serenity began to shiver. She didn't like the way he was treating her. Besides she hadn't known him for that long and he was already telling her how to talk to him. Diamond was pulling her closer to him until they heard footsteps. She looked to see who was coming up the steps. "Andrew!" Serenity exclaimed when she saw the blonde hair man.

"Hey." Andrew greeted as he looked strangely at Diamond. "Where's Darien?"

Serenity pointed to the door. Andrew smiled at her as he walked past them. He then opened the door and poked his head inside. "Darien?" He asked as he looked for his friend.

Darien walked into the living room from the kitchen. "Oh, good. You're here." Darien said as he opened the door all of the way. "I need to tell you somethings before I tell you what I need help with."

"Oh, yeah. I was wondering what you needed help with." Andrew told him as he came all the way inside the door.

"Come on, let's go in my room. I want to tell you this in private." He told Andrew as the two of them went into his room.

Once the door shut behind the two of them Andrew turned to Darien. "So, what do you need my help with? And who's that on the porch with Serenity? Who are the people in the living room?" The blonde haired boy asked. He wanted to know exactly what was going on.

"The man on the deck with Serenity is her fiancé. The two in the living room are her parents." He told his friend as his friend began to pace.

Andrew's eyes widened when he heard that Serenity had a fiancé. "She's getting married?" Darien looked at the floor before nodding. Andrew shook his head. "There's not a state that I know of that'll allow a sixteen-year-old to get married.

Darien sighed. He figured that he cut out the part about them really being merpeople. "Alright, now that we got past that can you help me. I really need to find some place for at least two of them to stay. Can you let two of them stay at your place please?"

Andrew sighed as he ran his fingers though his hair. He wanted to help his best friend, he really did. Besides Darien never really asked him to do any favors. It was a good thing his parents were out of town for the coming week. "Fine, I'll do it." He told Darien.


	16. Chapter 15

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 15:**

Darien and Andrew left the room and went back into the living room. When they entered the living room they only saw Serenity's parents. Darien looked over at the kitchen, but he didn't see anything. "Is Serenity still outside with Diamond?" He asked as he and Andrew sat down in some chairs.

Queen Darya looked up at the two of them. "Yes, she is." She responded as she looked out the front window to see what was going on.

Darien sighed as he too looked out the window. He wanted to tell them that Andrew was going to let some of them stay at his place, but he wanted them all to hear it.

…..

Back at the palace Amy was in the library. In her hands was a book about the laws of the ocean. She was looking up the marriage laws in their kingdom. The large door opened and Raye poked her head inside. As she looked around she saw the blue harried mermaid reading. She then swam over to Amy. "I'm back." Raye said simply.

Amy looked up from the book and over at Raye. "Great." Amy replied before going back to the book.

Raye shook her head as she watched Amy go back to reading the book she had. Of course Amy didn't want to talk when she was in the middle of reading something. Raye looked at the worn leather book in Amy's hands. She knew it was the book of laws. "Why are you reading the book of laws?" Raye asked curiously.

Amy looked up and over at Raye. "I'm looking for the marriage laws of the kingdom." She told Raye as she looked down at the book once more. As soon as she looked down she spotted it. "I found it."

Raye blinked. Amy found it already? The dark haired mermaid only shrugged. "What does it say?" She asked.

Amy cleared her throat and began to read it out loud. "It says: _'The father of a daughter may choose her husband only if she is still pure. If she is no longer pure then she may choose her husband.'_" Amy read before looking at Raye. "That's it. There have been no changes to the law."

Raye sighed as Amy closed the book. So Serenity's father could choose who her husband was unless she was no longer pure. She sighed as Amy put the book away. They didn't know if Serenity was still pure or not. They had no way of knowing as of right now. They were going to ask when she came back.

….

Serenity shivered as she felt Diamond's hands on her shoulders. Just the touch of his fingers made her skin crawl. She didn't want him touching her, let alone anywhere near her. "Can we please go inside?" She asked. She was getting uncomfortable.

Diamond bent down so he was at her height. "Not just yet." He told her. "I still need to talk to you."

Serenity sighed. They had been 'talking' the whole time. If you counted Diamond telling her why her father chose him over the other suitors to marry her talking. To her, it was a very stupid reason for him to be bragging about it. It was because he was the only male in the court closest to her age.

He looked like he was about to kiss her when the door opened. She was thankful to the person who opened the door. They had such good timing. "What do you want?" Diamond asked Darien.

Darien frowned. "I need to tell you two and Serenity's parents something. Can you please come inside?"

Diamond just glared at Darien as he walked past him. When Diamond was inside Serenity let out a deep sigh. "Are you alright?" Darien asked the young princess.

Serenity nodded as she followed him inside. Once inside she sat next to her mother. Darien stood next to Andrew and cleared his throat. "Great, now that you're all here I have something I want to tell you." He began. "My friend Andrew has agreed to let two of you stay with him."

Andrew waved as if to introduce himself. He didn't like the look on Serenity's fathers face or on her fiancé's. They didn't look too friendly. Serenity looked at Darien in the eyes. Darien knew that she wanted to stay here with him. All he did was shrug. "Nereus and Diamond will stay with your friend." Darya told Darien gently. She figured that Serenity would've wanted to stay there. She also knew that Nereus wouldn't approve of Serenity staying there with that boy alone so she volunteered to stay there as well.

"I guess that works." King Nereus muttered as he crossed his arms. He wasn't pleased with Serenity staying there alone, but if her mother was with her he thought it would be okay.

Andrew looked at Darien as if to ask now what. Darien looked at him and shrugged. "Your call." He whispered to his friend.

Andrew looked at Serenity's father and fiancé. He then cleared his throat. "Well, I think we should get going." He told Nereus and Diamond.

King Nereus only glared at Andrew as he and Diamond stood up. "Bye." Andrew said as they walked over to the door.

"Bye." Serenity said as they three of them left. She then turned around and looked at her mother and Darien. This would be an interesting week.

**AN: Alright for the next chapter I can do one of two things. I can either tell about what happens each day that they're there or I can just skip ahead to when they go back to the ocean. Tell me which one you guys want to read.**

**Princess Cornelia**


	17. Chapter 16

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 16:**

The week had certainly gone by fast. Everyday Andrew would drive Nereus and Diamond back to Darien's house. From there they would all go do something. They never told Andrew that the four of them were merfolk. Darien had also decided weather or not to drink the potion.

Serenity sighed as she sat on the deck watching the sun set on her last day on land. At midnight she, her mother, father, and Diamond would return to the ocean. She was partly happy to be returning home, but she was also partly sad. She didn't want to leave Darien here on land.

The front door opened and it broke her from her thoughts. She looked up and saw Darien sitting next to her. "Hey," He greeted as he sat down all the way. "So, what do you think of me now that you have know me for a week?"

Serenity smiled as she brushed some bangs out of her eyes. "I still love you." She told him softly.

"Well, good, because I still love you too." He told her as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Serenity closed her eyes as she laid her head on his shoulder. Right now her parents and Diamond were inside talking. The three of them couldn't wait to go back home.

When the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon completely they went back inside. A few hours later they all were on the beach. Darien had insisted that he come with them to say good-bye. When the four of them reached the edge of the water Serenity turned around and ran back and hugged Darien who was standing a yard away. "I don't want to leave." She whispered to him.

"I know." He whispered back.

Darien then reached into his pocket and pulled out the vile. Serenity pulled away and saw the vile. "What's that?" She asked.

"Your friend Raye gave me this." He told her as he pulled the top off. "She told me that if I drink this then I'd turn into a merman for good."

Serenity's mouth open wide as she looked at the potion before looking at him, "Are you going to drink it?" She asked. Part of her hoped he was going to, but the other part of her didn't want him to give up everything for her.

Darien smiled at her as he nodded. He had even left a note for his mother. Serenity hugged him once again. The two of them walked over to the water. Once the four had entered the water they had turned back into merfolk. Darya, Nereus, and Diamond all began to swim back to the kingdom immediately. Serenity stayed to make sure Darien was all right and didn't get caught by her parents.

Darien made sure he was knee deep in water before drinking the potion. After he drank it he began to feel funny, he even fell over. Serenity swam over to him to make sure he was all right. She wrapped her arms around his waist and began to swim. As she was swimming she glanced down and saw a fin on him. She hoped her parents didn't notice her absence.

She sighed as she went underwater with him still her arms. Serenity wanted to make sure that he made it safely to the palace. When the reached the palace she took him to her room and set her down on her bed before going to sleep herself.

**AN: Quiet a few of you wanted me to skip ahead so that's what I did. This chapter was already written just in case. Anyway please review. **


	18. Chapter 17

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 17:**

When Darien woke up he rubbed his eyes. He groaned as he sat up and looked around. He knew he wasn't at home, but he didn't know where he was. He glanced down besides him and saw Serenity sleeping peacefully. He then realized where he was. Darien looked down and saw a blanket covering the lower part of his body. He moved the blanket out of the way. Underneath was a black fin.

….

Clare was in the kitchen getting drinking coffee. She was about to wake Darien up when she noticed the note on the table. She picked it up and read it.

'_Dear Mom,_

_When you get this I'll be gone. Where, you're probably thinking. I have gone with Serenity. We want to get married, but I want to prove myself to her father. I may or may not see you ever again. I'm sorry that I said good-bye to you through a letter rather then in person. I know you would've tried and persuaded me to stay. Maybe one day we'll meet again. Send my regards to Andrew._

_Love your only son,_

_Darien_

When Clare finished reading the letter she nearly had a heart attack. Her son had ran away to be with some girl he barley knew. She had began crying as she sat down. Her only son was gone and she knew that she'd never see him again.

…

Once he had gotten over the shock that the potion actually work he looked at Serenity. He smiled as he watched her sleep. Even though he had given up everything for her he knew he made the right choice. Now the only problem was proving to her father that he was worthy of her.

…

King Nereus and Diamond were in the throne room talking about the politics of the kingdom when the door opened. Amy and Raye then swam into the room. "Can I help you two?" The king asked the two mermaids.

The two of them looked at each other before turning back to the king. "Your majesty, we were wondering if you've seen Serenity." Amy said to the king.

King Nereus shook his head. "No, I know she came back later than us though." He told the two mermaids.

Both Amy and Raye looked at each other before turning back to the king. "She's probably sleeping then." Amy replied as the two of them left the throne room.

When the two were gone Diamond turned to the king. He himself wanted to know why Serenity came back late. "Did you check on her when she came back?" He asked the king.

King Nereus shook his head. "No, we stopped doing that when she was ten." He told the duke. "Why?"

Diamond took a deep breath in before letting it out. He was sure something was going on.

…

When Serenity woke up she knew she was back under the water. She opened her eyes and looked next to her. At first she was confused to see Darien next to her. Then she remembered that he had given up everything for her. "Are you awake?" He asked her softy.

"Mhmm." She muttered as she rubbed her eyes. "Good morning."

Darien was about to say something when the door began to open. Darien looked at Serenity as if to ask what should I do.

"Serenity, are you awake?" Came Raye's voice from the opening in the door.

Serenity said nothing as she and Darien got off the bed. She then swam over and opened the door to her closet. Darien went inside to hide. She didn't want them to meet him yet anyway. "Serenity?" Raye's voice came again.

"Come in." She called to Raye.

The door opened and Amy and Raye entered the room. Serenity could tell by the look on their faces that they had something important to tell her.


	19. Chapter 18

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**AN: ****Usagi Usako Chiba**** to answer your question she's no longer pure as both. I don't see why she wouldn't be. I mean I know she was a human when she lost her purity, but in my mind that kind goes both ways. If that made any sense the yay! **

**Chapter 18:**

Serenity started at her friends. "Is something wrong?" She asked them.

Amy and Raye looked at each other. They weren't sure who was going to tell Serenity what they found out in the book of laws. Amy then cleared her throat. She guessed she would be the one to tell her. "We want to tell you something." Amy told Serenity softly. "I was in the library reading the book of laws and I stumbled across the marriage laws." Serenity nodded. "Well, I continued to read it and I found that your father can only choose your husband if you're still pure."

Serenity's eyes widened as she listened to Amy. That meant that she could marry Darien since she was no longer pure. "Has it been altered?" She asked. She thought it best that she'd ask to make sure it was current.

Amy shook her head. To her knowledge it hadn't been altered. Serenity's eyes lit up. "That's wonderful." She exclaimed.

Raye and Amy's eyes widened. It was wonderful? When Serenity saw the look on their faces she bit her lip. "Oopps." She muttered.

"Your not pure?" Raye asked the princess.

Serenity nodded. "Yes, I am no longer pure. I gave myself to Darien."

"Darien? Oh, the human you fell in love with." Raye said as she brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

Serenity nodded as she swam over to her closet door. "I have something to show you guys. Promise not to tell my mother, father, or Diamond."

Both girls looked at each other before looking back at Serenity. "We promise." They said together.

Serenity smiled at both of them as she opened the door. Amy gasped when she saw the merman in Serenity's closet. "Amy, Raye, this is Darien." She introduced them.

"Hi." He said to the two mermaids.

…

Queen Darya was out in the gardens. She loved taking care of the sea planets. She hummed softly to herself as she inhaled the sweet secant of sea roses.

Mina and Lita entered the garden. They hadn't seen Serenity in a week. They thought that Queen Darya might know where her daughter was. "Your majesty." Both girls greeted the queen.

Queen Darya smiled at the girls. "You two want to know where Serenity is, correct?" She asked the two young mermaids. Both of them nodded. "I believe that she's still asleep."

"Thank you." Mina said to the queen as they swam to Serenity's room. When they reached the princess's room she knocked on the door. She then opened it.

Serenity, Amy, Raye, and Darien looked up and saw Mina and Lita. Serenity let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't her father, Diamond, or her mother. Both girls smiled when they saw Serenity. Their smiles faded however when they saw the strange merman, who was he? "Serenity!" Mina exclaimed as she hugged the princess. In Serenity's ear she whispered, "Whose that?"

The princess knew that Mina was referring to Darien. "Mina, Lita, this is Darien." She told them as she pulled away from Mina.

Lita smiled, her mothers potion had worked. Mina was shocked. She hadn't been filled in on this. She opened her mouth to say something when she saw the pleased look in Lita's eyes. She knew Lita's mother had something to do with it. She'd ask later.

…

Diamond wandered down the hall of the palace. He was on his way to the library. King Nereus broke into a coughing fit so he let him rest. When he came to Serenity's door he stopped. Maybe he'd go and see his fiancé. She couldn't object. When he opened the door he got a big shock.


	20. Chapter 19

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 19:**

They all stopped talking when the door opened. Serenity bit her lip and Darien's eyes widened. He wasn't sure what to do. Lita looked at Darien before pointing to the closet. Darien nodded as he opened the closet door. "Serenity?" Came Diamond's voice.

They all turned and saw Diamond. Diamond got very upset when he saw Darien. "You!" He yelled as he pointed at him. "What are you doing here?"

Serenity and Darien both swallowed lumps in their throats. The blonde princess then opened her mouth to speak when Raye began talking. "I found a potion to turn a human into a merperson and I gave it to him." Raye told Diamond. Well, she didn't really 'find' the potion.

Diamond glared at her. "I wasn't asking you." He told Raye firmly. Serenity, you and I need to see your father. Now."

Serenity hung her head. Darien glanced over at her and frowned. Diamond had no right to order her around like that, even if she was his fiancé.

The four other mermaids looked at each other and shrugged. They weren't sure what to do. "Serenity, come."

Serenity nodded as she followed Diamond out of the room. Darien looked at the other four. Mina sighed. "He wants to control her." Mina commented.

Darien nodded. "It seems like it." He agreed.

…

Serenity followed Diamond as she bit her lip. She knew that he was going to make her tell her father about Darien. When they reached her parents room she raised an eyebrow. She wanted to know why they where here instead of the throne room. "Wouldn't my father be in the throne room?"

Diamond turned to look at her. "Your father had a coughing fit earlier." He told her.

Serenity blinked. Her father had a coughing fit? Was he getting sick? "Is it a good idea to tell him this now then?" She asked, hoping Diamond would agree with her. Diamond glared at her as he knocked on the door. When they heard a 'come in' he opened the door.

Serenity took in a deep breath. She knew that she would have to tell her father that Darien was a merman. Nereus looked up from the book in his lap. When he saw the two together he smiled. They looked like they were getting along. "How can I help you?" He asked them.

Diamond glared at Serenity. "Father, I have something to tell you." She began to say. "You remember Darien, right?"

Nereus looked at Serenity. Of course he remembered that human. "Yes, why?"

"Well, because uh…how should I put this?"

Diamond sighed. He knew she was just trying to stall. "Her friend gave him a potion that turned him into a merman." He told the king.

Nereus got very mad. That…that human had followed Serenity back to her home. Well, he wasn't a human any more, but still. "Is this true?" He asked his daughter.

Serenity nodded. It was true. "I want to marry him." She then told the both of them. She then mentally scolded herself. She hadn't told her father that she was no longer pure yet.

Both mermen looked at each other before laughing. That was the funniest thing they had ever heard. Serenity began to get mad. "I LOVE HIM!" She yelled.

Nereus narrowed his eyes. "You are going to marry Diamond and you are not going to complain about it." He told her sternly.

Serenity frowned. She wasn't going to put up with this. "You can tell me who I'm going to marry as long as I'm still pure. Well, I have something to tell you. I'm no longer pure." She told her father.


	21. Chapter 20

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 20:**

Diamond and Nereus started at her. Did they hear what they though they heard? She was no longer pure? "Your what?" He asked. He didn't sound mad. "I'm very disappointed in you. Though as long as you're not pregnant you're still going to marry Diamond."

Serenity couldn't believe what she was hearing. He couldn't do this. "Father, that's against the law." She said softly. "The law says once I'm no longer pure I can choose my own husband."

…

Andrew sighed as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. Darien wasn't there that day. It wasn't like him to miss school. As soon as he got into his car the first place he went was to Darien's house. When he reached the parking lot he got out of the car and walked across the sand to Darien's. After he walked up the stairs he knocked on the door. Andrew was expecting Darien to answer and was surprised when Clare answered. "Andrew!" She exclaimed as she dried her tears.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Clare was too upset to say anything. She walked over to the table before picking up the letter and handing it to him. Andrew took it from her and read it. When he was done he looked up at Clare. "He's really gone?" Was all he could ask.

Clare nodded as she fell into his arms crying. Her little boy was gone forever. "It'll be alright." He told her as he stroked her hair.

…

King Nereus looked like he was going to yell at her when he suddenly began coughing. "Father?" Serenity asked concerned. "Are you alright?"

The king shook his head. "Go get the doctor." He said between coughs.

Serenity nodded as she swam off to go back to her room. Amy's father was a doctor. When she entered the room everyone was still in there. "Hey." Darien greeted her once she was in the room all the way.

"Hi, Amy where's your father?" She asked one of her best friends.

Amy blinked. Why did Serenity need to see her father? "In his room."

"Thank you." Serenity said before she swam out of the room.

The five looked at each other before following her. What was going on? They watched from around the corner as Serenity entered the room.

When Serenity entered the room she spotted Amy's father, Leith, was sitting at his desk. "Sir, are you busy?"

The older merman looked at Serenity. "No. Is there something I can help you with your highness." Leith asked as he closed the book in front of him.

"My father is coughing badly. Can you please take a look at him?"

Leith nodded as he picked up his doctor kit. The two of them left and swam down the hall to her father's room. The other five followed from a huge distance. When Serenity and Diamond were told t wait outside Diamond went to go get her mother.

As she was waiting for Leith to give her some new and Diamond to return with her mother the five swam over to her. "What's going on?" Lita asked.

Serenity bit her lip as she looked at the ground. "My father's coughing badly." She told them. "I'm worried that he's getting very sick." Serenity's eyes started to water. Darien saw how upset she was so he wrapped his arms around her before pulling her close.

A few moments later they heard a voice from behind them. "Serenity?" They broke apart and Serenity looked behind her only to come face to face with her mother.


	22. Chapter 21

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 21:**

Queen Darya looked from Serenity to Darien. Why was he there? "Serenity, what's going on?" She asked as she looked from Serenity to Darien.

Serenity glanced over at Darien before looking at her mother again. She then closed her eyes and sighed. "He's…" Serenity started, but Rei cut her off.

"He's here because I gave him a potion to turn him into a merman permanently. He didn't have to take it, but he did it because…" Raye explained until Darien cut her off.

"Because I love your daughter very much." Darien finished. It was the truth. Serenity hoped her mother like her father had.

Queen Darya looked at the three of them as she sighed. She didn't have time to deal with this. "I want to talk to the two of you later." She told Serenity and Darien. "Right now I would like to see how my husband is."

Right as she said that the door opened and Leith came out. "Your highness, the king is not doing well." Leith told them. "He has a rare but deadly disease. I'm not sure how much longer he'll be with us."

Queen Darya bit her lip as tears began to form in her eyes. Women weren't allowed to rule unless they were married. It was best that Serenity got married as soon as possible. She glanced over at her daughter. "Serenity, Darien, come with me." She told the two of them.

They looked at each other before following Darya. The three of them reached the library and went inside. "Now Darien, you love my daughter, correct?" Darya asked Darien as they all sat down in chairs made out of coral.

"Yes, your majesty." Darien replied.

"You know she's engaged, correct?"

"Yes, your majesty."

Serenity bit her lip. She had to tell her mother the truth. "Mother, you know the marriage law, right?" She asked, hoping that her mother did know.

"The marriage law? Of course I know it." The queen told her daughter.

"Then you now that Father can only choose my husband as long as I'm still pure."

Queen Darya's eyes widened. Her daughter was telling her that she was no longer pure. She then cleared her throat. "Your no longer pure?" She asked just to make sure that's what Serenity meant. Serenity nodded. "That means you can choose your own husband then." She told her daughter softly. She wasn't very happy that Serenity had given herself before marriage. It wasn't her business though.

Serenity smiled. She already knew her choice. "Then I choose Darien." She told her mother as she grabbed his hand.

Darien smiled as he kissed the back of it. He was happy that her mother would let her choose her husband. If they were dealing with her father then he knew that he would never let her choose.

Queen Darya sighed. Now someone had to tell Diamond. She knew that he wasn't going to be very happy. She also needed to tell her husband.

"I'll tell Diamond, Mother." Serenity told her mother as she got out of the chair. She then swam out of the room. All that was left was needing to tell the king.


	23. Chapter 22

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 22:**

King Nereus was coughing badly when the door opened. Queen Darya swam over to the bed. "How are you feeling?" She asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.

He gave his wife a smile. He knew he was dying. He thought it best that he would not let his wife knew that he knew. "I feel fine." He lied. "Did you talk to Serenity?"

Queen Darya gave him a half smiled. "Yes, she's no longer marrying Diamond." She told him.

King Nereus closed his eyes. Diamond wasn't going to like this. "Who is she marrying then?" He asked as he opened his eyes.

The queen knew her husband wasn't going to like this. She took a deep breath in before letting it out. "She's going to marry Darien." She told her husband.

…

Serenity swam down the halls looking for Diamond. She hoped that he would take it well when she told him that they were no longer getting married. When she reached the door to his room she took a deep breath in before knocking on the door.

When Diamond answered the door he was surprised to see Serenity. "Hello Serenity, how can I help you?" He asked her as he gave her a smile.

Serenity shivered at the sight of him smiling at her. He was not the kind of merperson you would expect to see smiling. She just shook her head. "I want to talk to you about our wedding." She told him as she followed him into the room.

"Ah, yes. When do you want to have it? The end of summer would be lovely, don't you think?" He asked her as he took her hands in his.

Serenity frowned. She didn't want to set the date. "Um, that's not what I want to talk about." She started to say as she tried to pull away from him.

Diamond gave her a funny look. Something was up. "I thought you wanted to talk about the wedding."

Serenity shook her head. "We no longer are getting married." She told him.

Diamond started at her in disbelief. "Who are you marring then?" He asked her. He wanted to know who had stolen his bride.

She took a breath in. If he was anything like her father she knew he would probably yell when he found out who it was. "I'm marrying Darien now."

Diamond said nothing as he glared at her. He then swam away. Serenity sighed heavily as she turned and swam out of Diamond's room. She needed to find her mother and tell her that it was done.

…

Darien swam down the halls of the palace. He deiced to do a little bit of exploring while Serenity was talking to Diamond. He was impressed by the architect. The entire palace was carved out of some kind of stone. It was very impressive. He looked out of a window that over looked the kingdom. Every building in the whole city was made out of stone.

Darien sighed. He still hadn't seen the kingdom yet. He hoped when Serenity had enough time she would show him around.

…

Serenity swam down the halls. She smiled when she saw Darien. "Hey." She greeted him as she swam up to him.

Darien looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. "I'm guessing you told Diamond." He said gently.

Serenity nodded. She then changed the subject. "What are you looking at?" She asked as she too looked out the window.

"I'm looking at your kingdom." He told her. "Would you mind giving me a tour?"

Serenity looked at him and smiled before she yawned. "Of course not." She told him as she rubbed her eyes. "Though can it wait until tomorrow? I'm really tired."

"No, it can wait." He told her. "You just go to bed if you're tired."

Serenity smiled at him sweetly as she lend over and kissed him on the check. "Good night." She told him as she turned around and swam back to her room.

Darien smiled as he watched her swim away. He couldn't wait until tomorrow when she gave him the tour of her kingdom.

**AN:Don't expect any updates until December. **


	24. Chapter 23

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 23:**

Diamond swam through the city. He wanted to find a friend of his. He needed to get something from them. When he reached what looked like an empty home he knocked once on the stone. A moment later the stone door opened. "What do you want?" A female voice asked.

Diamond frowned. "I need your help." He told the voice.

A sigh followed the request. The voice said nothing as the door opened the rest of the way. Diamond swam inside. He looked around and sighed. In the center of the room sat a young mermaid with shoulder length, curly, brown hair. Her fin was a dark red. "Well?" She asked.

"Well what?" Diamond asked before remembering what he came here for. "Oh, right." He cleared his throat. "I need your help."

The brunette narrowed her eyes. "Yes, you've already told me that. Now tell me what you need help with or leave now."

Diamond frowned as he sat in a chair across from the young woman. "Kaleen, where you always this bitter or have we been out of touch for so long I've forgotten how bitter you were."

Kaleen frowned; she was not amused by his humor. Diamond saw the look on her face and looked at the ground. "Sorry." He apologized. "I do need your help though. You're an expect in poison am I right?"

Kaleen smiled at that. "Of course I am." She told him. "That's important because…"

Diamond smiled. "Have you heard of my engagement to Princess Serenity?"

Kaleen rolled her eyes when he asked her that question. "Please, who hasn't heard of it?" She asked as she swam over to the cupboard where she kept all of her poisons. "Anyway, what about it?"

Diamond took in a deep breath before letting it out. "Well, we're no longer getting married." He told Kaleen. He figured that he'd tell her before she heard about it from someone else. "She's now engaged to a merman who was a human."

Kaleen looked at him with wide eyes. "Are you serious?" She questioned him. If he was then this was just too good. He was dumped by his fiancée for another merman. And one who wasn't even a merman at birth. "And you need the poison for?"

Diamond smirked at her. "I need the poison for him. I plan to poison him, if I can't have Serenity then there's no reason he should either. Any other way would be just too dangerous to do since it is traceable." He explained to Kaleen.

He had known Kaleen since his childhood. Whenever his father came to the Pacific Ocean for a visit he would come. On one visit he had met Kaleen. Ever since then the two of them had been close. Kaleen's mother used to handle poison like she does now.

Kaleen reached up and took out a small container with white powder in it. She handed it to him. "If you mix this in a drink it will fizz while it dissolves for a moment or two. Then give it to him. He should die right away. If he doesn't then come back."

Diamond looked at the container before looking at Kaleen. "Thanks." He then swam back towards the palace he was welcome as long as he didn't cause a disruption.

He swam down the halls of the palace. Everyone seemed to be upset about something. He then swam over to a servant. "Excuse me, but can you tell me what's going on?"

The servant looked at him and nodded. "Yes, the king has died."

**AN: YES, An update. No you're not imagining things. Anyway, please review. **


	25. Chapter 24

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 24:**

Diamond started at the servant in disbelief. The king had died? How long was he gone? "The king died? How long ago?" He asked. He wanted to know, he had only be gone what seemed like fifteen minutes and the king had died in that time.

The servant looked at him. "It happened ten minutes ago." The servant informed Diamond. "The queen informed her daughter first, then she told us."

If the king had died then that would mean that Serenity would have to get married soon. He had to put his plan into action and quick. If Darien died before she had a chance to marry him then Serenity would most likely be forced to marry Diamond. The merman smiled at the thought.

He was about to turn the corner when he heard Serenity humming a sad tune to herself. He wanted to try and cheer her up, but he had a plan to put into action.

Diamond waited for Serenity to pass before he went down the hall. When he reached the door to the kitchen at the end of the hall he made sure that no one was looking before entering the kitchens. Once he had entered the kitchens he swam over to a cupboard and opened it up. He then took three cups down; one for himself, one for Serenity, and one for Dairen.

He then got some juice and poured the juice in the three glasses. After pouring the juice in the glasses he opened the counter that held the poison. He then poured the poison into a cup with a sliver ring. The other two cups had golden rings around the edge. The one with the silver ring was meant for Darien.

Right as he finished pouring the poison the door opened and a servant came in. "My lord," The servant began. "Can I help you with that?"

Diamond looked at the servant and blinked. "Yes," He said a moment later. "Hand me a tray."

The servant nodded as she picked up and small sliver tray on a far counter. She swam back over to Diamond and handed him the tray. Diamond took the tray form the servant and set it in front of him. He then placed all three cups on the tray before turning to the servant. "In about ten minutes I want you to take this into the throne room." He told the servant before he swam out of the room.

As soon as Diamond left the kitchen he swam to the throne room. When he opened the door he saw both Serenity and Darien in there. Serenity was crying and Darien was trying to comfort her. He took a deep breath in before going inside.

Serenity and Darien broke apart when they heard the door open. The blonde princess eyes widened when she saw Diamond. "What do you want?" She asked him bitterly.

Diamond cleared his throat. "I heard about your father, I have to say I'm sorry for your loss." He told her, trying to sound sincere.

Serenity looked at Darien before looking back at Diamond. She gave him a half smile. "Thank you for your condolence." She told Diamond softly. She was about to say something else when the door opened and a servant entered carrying the tray with the cups.

"I-I thought you all could use something to drink." The servant said as she swam into the room with her eyes to the floor.

Serenity could tell that the young servant was shaking. She swam over to the girl and touched her shoulder. "It's alright." She told the servant. The servant lifted her shaking head and looked at Serenity. "You don't need to be scared. Thank you for the drinks as well."

The servant looked up at Serenity and nodded. Smiling, Serenity removed the glass with the silver rim off of the tray. Darien and Diamond followed her suit, but they grabbed the two glasses with the golden rim.

Diamond, who hadn't been paying attention to the other two cups, saw that Serenity had grabbed the wrong one. The young mermaid held her glass into the air and said, "To the king."

The other two did the same and gave a murmured response of, "To the king."

Diamond was just about to warn her not to drink from that glass when she held it up to her lips and took a small sip.


	26. Chapter 25

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 25:**

Diamond was just about to warn her not to drink from that glass when she held it up to her lips and took a small sip.

As soon as the tainted liquid touched Serenity's lips she started to feel very sleepy. The glass slipped from her hands and fell to the floor, shattering on impact. Darien looked over at Serenity when he heard the sound of glass breaking. "Serenity?" He asked as he set his glass back onto the tray.

The blonde mermaid raised her hand to rub her eyes, but before she could reach her eyes it feel down by her side once more as she began to fall to the floor. Darien swam over to her and caught her just before she hit the ground.

"Serenity? Serenity!" Darien said as he shook her, trying to wake her up.

As Darien was trying to wake Serenity up Diamond took the opportunity to sneak away. He knew it would make him look suspicious, but he needed to get away. He needed to visit Kaleen. Maybe there was an antidote to the poison. If there was hopefully Kaleen had it.

Darien looked up to see if Diamond was still there, but he was gone. The only other person in the room with him was the servant. Darien felt that Diamond had something to do with this, but decided to deal with that later.

He looked over at the servant who was picking up the pieces of the broken glass. "Excuse me miss." He said to the servant. "Could you get the doctor for me, please?"

The servant only looked down at the broken glass in response. "Just leave it for right now." Darien told the servant. "I really need the doctor."

The servant just nodded as she left the broken glass on the ground. She then left the throne room and swam quickly down the hall. She wasn't paying an attention to anything around her when she collided with someone. She just kept her eyes on the ground as she apologized.

"That's alright." Came Amy's voice.

The amber finned servant gasped as her head snapped up. "Lady Amy," The servant began. "Where's your father?"

Amy looked at the servant funny. "My father is in his room, why?" She asked. Was something wrong?

The servant didn't answer Amy as she swam to Leith's room. Amy followed the servant, but stayed behind a wall as the servant knocked on the door.

When Leith answered he was surprised to see the servant. "Yes?" He asked the servant.

The young servant swallowed a lump in her throat. "The princess needs help." She told him. It was true. She herself wasn't sure what had happened, but she did know that the princess did need help. "She's in the throne room." Leith nodded as he followed the young servant to the throne room.

Amy's blue eyes widened when she heard the servant say that Serenity needed help. What had happened? As her father and the servant passed her she hid behind a dark curtain. Once they had passed her she went to find the other three and the queen. They needed to know that something was wrong with Serenity.

As she took of swimming down the hall she stopped. Queen Darya had already lost her husband; did she really need to know that something was wrong with Serenity? She let out a sigh as she decided against it. The queen already had enough on her mind, if it was important then she would tell the queen later.

…

Darien held Serenity in his arms while he waited for the servant to come back with the doctor. He knew Serenity was sleeping, but he wanted to know what caused it. He looked up at the door when he heard it open. Leith was there with the servant.

"What happened?" Leith asked as he swam over to where Darien and Serenity were. The servant went straight to cleaning up the broken shards of glass.

"Well, we were drinking when she just fell over." Darien told Leith. He didn't want to tell Leith about Diamond because he planned to take care of that himself.

"Why don't you take her bedroom?" Leith told Darien. "I need to get my things anyway. It'll be much easier to examine her while she's lying on a flat surface."

Darien nodded as he proceeded to carry Serenity to her room. When he reached her room he laid the princess down on her bed. He reached over and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Maybe she had fallen asleep because of everything that had happened to her father. He doubted that was it by how fast Diamond had gotten out of there, but he could still hope. Couldn't he?

The door opened and he looked behind him. There was Leith, his medical things in hand. "I'll needed you to leave the room while I examine her." Leith told Darien as she swam over to the bed.

Darien nodded as he swam out of the room. Once he had left he closed the door behind him. He leaned up against the wall as he waited for Leith to do his examination of the princess. While he was waiting he thought he heard someone say his name. He looked up and saw Amy, Raye, Lita, and Mina swim up to him.

"Darien, what's going on?" Mina asked once they were in front of him.

Darien looked at the ground before looking at the girls. "I'm not sure. We were drinking something one minute and the next thing I know she's falling to the ground." He told the girls. "Does her mother know something's wrong?"

Amy shook her head. "No, I didn't want to worry the queen until we find out how important this is."

Right at that moment the door opened and Leith came out. He looked at the group of young people. "I have news for everyone. Serenity has been poisoned."

**AN: Two chapters in one day. You guys are lucky. Anyway please review. **


	27. Chapter 26

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 26:**

They all started at the doctor. Did he just say what they thought he said? The princess had been poisoned. Darien swallowed a lump in his throat. "How poisonous was it?" Darien asked Leith. He wanted to know what everyone else did; he was just the one that asked.

Leith looked at the notes in his hand. "Well, the poison that's inside of her is the most poisonous poison known to us. She should have died on contact, but she didn't, for some reason." He told them all. He hoped no one would ask why the poison didn't kill her when it should've. He himself was not sure.

"Is she dying?" The blue haired mermaid asked. Everyone looked at her; they were all wondering the same thing.

Leith looked at his daughter for a moment. He then took in a deep breath. "She will, eventually, if the right antidote isn't found." Everyone else blinked. There was an antidote for the most poisonous poison in the seven seas? Maybe it worked for the rare occasions were somebody lived, like Serenity. "The antidote is from the leaves of a pink-tipped lotus blossom."

"Pink-tipped lotus blossom?" They all repeated.

Leith nodded.

"Where might we find a pink-tipped lotus blossom?" Darien asked. Even though he asked as a question for everyone he wanted to be the one to go and retrieve it since he was going to marry Serenity. Also he didn't want anyone, but himself to save her for some reason. Maybe it was his love for her.

Leith cleared his throat. "Well, the pink-tipped lotus blossom is very rare and it only grows on the outside of our kingdom once a year. We need it however when it blooms and it only blooms once a year." Everyone held their breath. They had a feeling that it was going to be next year when it was too late. "That is today."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. "Who's going to go get the pink-tipped lotus blossom?" Mina asked as she looked at the group.

Darien looked around at the group. "I will." He answered a moment later. He was waiting for someone to object him going and getting the flower. When no one did he looked back at Leith.

"Alright." Leith said as he opened the door to Serenity's room once more. He glanced over his shoulder at Darien. He then motioned for Darien to follow him.

Darien glanced over his shoulder at the girls before following Leith into Serenity's bedroom. Once they were inside it was very quite. He glanced over at the bed were Serenity lay sleeping while Leith rummaged through his bag. What seemed like five minutes later Leith cleared his throat.

Darien looked over his shoulder at the older merman. In his hand a piece of paper. "On this paper is what the pink-tipped lotus blossom looks like." Leith told Darien as he handed him the paper.

Darien unfolded the paper and looked at the piece of paper. There was a colored drawing of the pink-tipped lotus blossom. "This is what I need to bring back by the end of the day?" He asked Leith as he looked up from the paper.

Leith nodded. "You only have so much time." He informed the young merman. "I would go now."

Darien nodded as he looked at Serenity one last time before he swam off. In his hand was the image of the flower. He knew what he had to do. He just hoped nothing or anyone interfered.

…

Diamond knocked on Kaleen's door. He needed to see if there was an antidote for the poison. He didn't mean to poison Serenity, he really didn't. When he left he saw that she was still breathing. That was a good thing, right?

When the door finally came open a pissed off Kaleen was floating there. She didn't know why Diamond was here, the poison that she gave him was sure to kill that merman. Why couldn't he just go be with the princess now? "What do you want?" Kaleen asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Diamond was surprised by her attitude. Had she been sleeping and he woke her up? He didn't mean to if he did wake her. "I'm sorry, but I need your help." He told her.

"You need my help? With what?!" She yelled at him.

"I poisoned Serenity instead." He told her. Kaleen's expression didn't change. "She is still alive. Is there an antidote for this poison?"

Kaleen leaned against the doorway. "Why should I tell you what the antidote is?" She asked calmly.

Diamond looked at her strangely. What was wrong with her? He knew for a fact not to ask when she was like this. "Because I want to save the princess."

Kaleen started at him. That was one person she didn't like and she didn't know why. "Do you have to save her?" She asked as she turned away.

"Yes." He answered. "If she sees that I'm the one to save her and not her new fiancée then she'll want to marry me."

Kaleen sighed. "Fine, come on in. I'll tell you what the antidote is."

**AN: Alright, I edited chapter 25 so a few of you would want to go back and read it. **

**Anyway this update was a request by sailormoonluver101. Today is her birthday, so happy birthday. **


	28. Chapter 27

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 27:**

Diamond followed Kaleen inside her house. As she swam over to a book of poisons she looked over at Diamond. Why should he get to marry the princess? She opened a cupboard and looked back at him. "Do you want something to drink?" She asked him.

Diamond turned and looked at her. "Yes." He responded.

Kaleen reached up and took two cup down. She poured some sea juice into each one. She then picked up the book and swam back into the room with Diamond. She handed him his drink as she sat down next to him. She placed the book in her lap and opened it up to the page with the poison that she had given him. "Here is the antidote." She told him a minute later. "A pink-tipped lotus blossom."

"What does that look like?" He asked.

Kaleen tore the page out of her book. She handed it to him. "Though you have to get it before the end of the day."

Diamond nodded as he took the page from her. He got up and smiled. "Thank you so much." He told her. Diamond then swam out the door.

…..

Mina swam around the palace. They had chosen her to tell the queen about Serenity. Now all she had to do was find the queen. Sighing she went outside and entered the garden. She spotted the queen sitting on a bench by herself. "Um," She said quietly as she went up to the queen.

Queen Darya looked over her shoulder and saw Mina swimming towards her. "What's wrong?" She asked the young mermaid.

Mina took a deep breath in before letting it out. "I need to talk to you about Serenity."

Queen Darya stiffened. What was wrong with her daughter? "What about Serenity?" She asked as she took a breath in and prepared for the worst.

Mina sat next to the queen on the bench. "Well, she has been poisoned."

The queen took in a deep breath and let it out. Who had done such a thing? "Is she alright?" She had to ask, even though it was possible that her daughter wasn't all right.

Mina swallowed a lump in her throat. "For the most part she is. Though she might die soon if the antidote is brought to her today."

Queen Darya wanted to cry. First her husband died and now her daughter might die as well. She felt tears roll down her cheeks. Mina wrapped an arm around the queen and pulled her close. The queen then began to cry on the girls shoulder.

……

As he looked at the image Darien only wished that he had a map to the place where the flower was. He sighed as he left the place. All right, now he just needed to figure out the way. He looked behind him and saw that the palace was up against a wall of stone. Well, that took care of what direction. He looked before him and began swimming out into the city for the first time. It was a fairly good size of a city.

As he swam he looked at all of the merfolk. They were chatting, buying things, and eating. He wondered if anyone knew about the king's death. He guessed not at the way they were chatting and smiling. He avoided talking to anyone else. He couldn't get distracted.

…..

As Diamond left Kaleen's house to get the flower he saw Darien swim past. He frowned for he should've guessed that he would be looking for the pink-tipped lotus blossom as well.

He new he had to get to it first. He then took off swimming as fast as he could.

…..

After comforting the queen for a while Mina went back inside. She ran into Amy. "Did you tell the queen?" The blue haired mermaid asked.

The blonde sighed as she nodded. "Yes, I told her. It was really hard since her husband had just died earlier today." She told Amy as they swam down the hall together.

Amy gave her friend a half smile. "Don't be mad at us for choosing you to tell her. We only did since you're the strongest out of us when it comes to emotions. They rest of us would probably ended up crying before we told her."

Mina closed her eyes and crossed her arms. Now, all they had to do was figure out who poisoned Serenity.


	29. Chapter 28

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 28:**

Mina closed her eyes and crossed her arms. Now, all they had to do was figure out who poisoned Serenity.

Amy swam up to the large door and opened it. She looked around the room before spotting a servant washing the floors. "Excuse us." Amy said to the servant.

The servant looked up at Amy with wide eyes. No one of a higher rank was ever polite when they wished to speak to her. "Y…yes." She stuttered as she got up off the floor.

"I need to know who gave the princess her drink this afternoon." The blue haired mermaid told the servant.

The auburn haired mermaid bit her lower lip. She had been the one who had given the princess her drink. She had also seen the duke pouring something into the drinks. The servant took a deep breath in before letting it out. She then began to explain what she knew to Amy and Mina.

…

As Darien swam through the city he couldn't help, but notice that everyone he passed looked at him strangely. At first he was a little confused of why people were staring at him, but the more he thought about it he realized that everyone pretty much knew everyone. He, too, would stare at someone he didn't recognize in a place like that. The only thing he could do was ignore it and continue on.

…

Diamond discreetly followed Darien through the city. He wanted to get ahead of him, but he was waiting for the perfect opportunity. Once they both left the city he would find a quicker way to the flower.

Several times Darien looked behind him because he felt like someone was following him. Each time he looked behind him however he'd only see the people he had just past. He figured it was their stares that he felt on him.

….

Amy and Mina started at the servant. Both of their mouths were wide open. The duke had poured the drinks. Amy closed her mouth and cleared her throat. "Thanks you for informing us." She told the girl. "I will see that you are rewarded."

The servant looked at the ground and nodded. Mina looked at the girl and frowned a bit. She could tell that this servant was worried about something, but she didn't know what. "Is something wrong?" She as the servant as she gently touched the girls shoulder.

The servant looked up at Lady Mina. Her green eyes were filled with water. "I'm worried." She said softly.

Mina blinked a couple of times. "About what?" She asked gently.

The auburn haired mermaid looked at Mina as she took a deep breath in. "I'm worried that the duke will remember seeing me in the room with him and know that I was the one who told you." She told the other two mermaids.

Mina looked over her shoulder at the blue haired mermaid who lingered by the door. Amy swam over to them. "It's alright." She replied. "We'll make sure nothing happens."

The servant nodded. "Thank you." She said as she bowed her head.

The two other mermaids smiled. "Thank _you_, you have been a big help." Amy told the servant as they swam out of the room. Now all they needed to do was to find the duke.

…

Diamond peered around the building. He saw that they were nearing the edge of the city. In a matter of minutes he would find another, shorter way to the pink-tipped-lotus blossom. He would be the one to bring it back to Serenity no matter what it took. He wanted to be the one to save her. In his mind if he saved her then she would forget about Darien and love him for saving her. This was his one and only chance to become king and nothing would stop at nothing to see this happen.

…

The black haired merman let out a sigh of relief when he saw that he was nearing the edge of the city. It had taken nearly twenty minutes just to get through the city. He sure wished that he had a watch. He wanted to know how much time he had exactly.

Darien stopped and sighed. Now he had to find the pink-tipped lotus blossom. It couldn't be that far away.

He swam forward and looked at all the rocks. Did it grow on the rocks or did it grow in the field. Darien looked to the right of him and saw an open field. He stopped for a moment and looked between the rocks and the field. What way should he choose to do?

"I guess the rocks would make more sense." He muttered to himself. "With a flower that rare and all." Sighing he swam towards the rocks.

…

Diamond swam out into the open. He had to be careful there was still a chance that Darien could see him. He stopped for a moment as he watched Darien swim over to the rocks. Where was he going? As the black haired merman disappeared behind the rocks Diamond looked at the field of flowers. The pink-tipped lotus blossom had to be in there. And he was going to find it.

…

Mina and Amy sighed as they swam down the hall. The orange finned mermaid couldn't believe that Diamond would try to poison Serenity. Why would he do that?

Amy sighed as she stopped swimming. "What are we going to tell the queen?" The blue haired mermaid asked her friend.

The blonde shrugged. "The truth I suppose." She replied. "Though I don't know why he would try to poison Serenity."

Amy shook her head as they began swimming once more. They turned the corner of the hallway and were in front of the queen's room. They both looked at each other and took a deep breath. This would not be an easy thing to tell the queen. Nervously Amy raised her hand and knocked on the door.

…

Darien swam over the dark rocks. They looked like they were created form volcanic ash. He hoped to god that he was right and the flower grew among these rocks. He didn't have all day to search for this flower.

…

Diamond swam over the field of flowers. There were tons of flowers in a rainbow of colors, though none of the flower he was looking for. He stopped swimming for a moment. Could he have been wrong? Could the flower be among the rocks?

…

The two mermaids floated there for a while. They wondered if their queen was even in her room. After a few minutes of waiting the two turned around to swim off. As they began the door opened. "Yes?" The queen asked the two girls.

Mina licked her lips. "Your majesty," She began. "We have new information for you."

The queen blinked a few times. "About who poisoned Serenity?" She asked. The two mermaids nodded. "You know who poisoned her?"

"Yes your majesty." Amy replied. "Though we think it doesn't make any sense. The duke, Lord Diamond, poisoned her."

Queen Darya's soft eyes widened. "What? Why would he do that?" She asked as she left the room and shut the door behind her. She agreed with the two mermaids. It didn't make any sense as to why Diamond would poison Serenity. "Where is he?" She asked. "I would like to speak to him."

Both mermaids looked at each other. That was a good question. "We don't know, your majesty." Mina told the queen.

"Well, get the other two and find him." She told them. Darya really wanted to speak to him. She wanted to know why he had tried to kill his ex-fiancé. As she watched the two girls leave she sighed. She hoped that they could find the duke without any problems.

…

After an hour Darien stopped swimming to rest. It was taking forever to find this flower. He sat upon a stack of rocks and let out a breath. As he sat on the rocks he looked around him. It looked like these rocks went on forever.

Sighing he ran his fingers through his hair. Well, he had better get going once more.

…

Diamond narrowed his eyes. There was no way that the this pink-tipped lotus blossom grew among the rocks. Yet, as he looked around him, he didn't see it among the flowers that grew in the open felid. He cursed under his breath. If it grew amoung the rocks then that Darien would get it. He didn't want that, but if Darien did get this flower before him he would just have to take it.

…

Mina and Amy swam down the hall of the palace. The queen had wanted them to find Lita and Raye before going out to look for Diamond. It was a good thing they knew just where to find those two. They didn't want to spend all day looking for them. They didn't have all day at all.

When they reached Serenity's room Mina opened the door. There they were sitting in Serenity's room with Leith. The three of them looked over at the two mermaids at the door. "Raye, Lita," Mina began. "You need to come with us."

"What's wrong now?" Lita asked. Today just wasn't a great day for anyone.

"We need to look for the duke." Amy began to explain. "He's the one who posiend Serenity."

"Why?" Lita asked.

The two sighed and shrugged. They were still trying to figure that out as well. "The queen wants us to find him and bring him to her though." Mina told them.

Raye nodded. "Well, we better get going." She said as she got up out of the chair she had been sitting in. "Who knows were he is."

Lita got up as well. Once she and Raye joined Mina and Amy by the door the four of them swam out the door. They were off to find the duke.

…

As Darien swam futher and further along he saw patches of seaweed sitcking out from the rocks. He smiled to himself. He knew he was getting cloer. He looked ahead and saw a group of flowers. This flower had to be in that patch. He had a feeling.

As he got closer he could tell the flowers were pink. When he reached he spotted the flower. It looked exactly the same as it did it the illustration. Darein reached down and picked it. Now he had to make it back to the palace within a few hours.


	30. Chapter 29

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 29:**

Darien picked the pink-tipped louts blossom up and studied it. So, this small flower was the cure for the poison that had infected Serenity. He had his doubts, such as how anything that small could cure something as deadly as poison. But it was worth a shot. Now all he had to do was make it back to the palace within a few hours. Once he got there with the flower he was curious to see how Leif would use the flower to cure Serenity.

He shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about that far ahead when he still had to get there.

Diamond peered around the corner of the building. He was watching the dot in the distance get closer and closer. As soon as the dot was close enough he knew it was his chance to get the flower. There was no way he was going to let that human-turned-merman save the life of the princess he intended to marry. The loss of her purity didn't matter at the moment. When the time came he would deal with that. For now he had to concentrate on the current task at hand.

The four mermaids had decided to split up while they looked for Diamond. The reason being so they could find him sooner. Mina went to search the shopping districts, Amy looked in the business and school districts, Lita and Raye went to look in the farming and rural parts of the city.

Darien smiled when he saw that he was right outside the city. The swim from the sport where he had found the flower hadn't taken that long. In fact he would've said that it was shorter. He looked over his shoulder to look one last time at how far he had came.

When he turned around he saw that Diamond was in front of him. Both of them started at each other. Darien knew that Diamond wanted the pink-tipped lotus blossom. His finger tightened around the stem of the flower. He would not let the duke get the flower.

"Darien." The duke greeted him in a flat tone.

"Diamond." Darien returned the greeting.

For a while the two mermen started at each other once more. Not one saying a word. Finally Diamond spoke first. "I want the flower." He said plainly.

Darien looked at the flower in his hand before looking back up at Diamond. "Why?" He asked as he held the flower closer to him. There was no way that he was going to let Diamond have this flower. Serenity's life depended on it.

Diamond scowled at him. Why wouldn't Darien just give him the stupid flower? "I want to be the one that saves Serenity's life." He told Darien as he reached in front of him to take the flower from the merman in front of him.

Darien quickly moved out of the way, protecting the flower from Diamond. Diamond turned around and glared at Darien. He was now at least three feet from where he had been before. "Give it to me!" Diamond yelled as he swam back over to Darien as fast as he could.

The dark haired merman didn't notice when the sliver haired merman drew his arm back. By the time he realized that Diamond was going to attack him it was to late. The duke had hit him square in the jaw. He lifted on of his hands to his face and cupped his chin. In his mouth he tasted the metallic taste of blood.

The flower floated, forgotten, making it's way down to the ocean floor. Diamond took the opportunity to follow the flower. He hoped that he could reach it before Darien noticed that he had let go of the flower. He reached out to grab it when he felt someone grabbing his shoulders.

The duke looked up and saw Raye and Lita. Where the hell had those two come from? "Let me go!" He spat at the two mermaids.

Lita looked down at him and frowned. "I don't think so." She told him as she tightened her grip on his arm. "You've caused enough trouble for one day."

The ebony haired mermaid looked up at Darien. "Hurry and get the flower. It needs to be brought to Leif fast!" She said to Darien.

Darien lowered his hand away from his jaw and nodded. The metallic taste in his mouth had disappeared. If Raye and Lita hadn't shown up he was pretty sure that he would've done something he would've regretted later to Diamond.

He looked down and saw how fast the flower was falling. He swam as fast as he could to catch it before hit the bottom. As soon as he caught it he let out a sigh of relief. Darien then looked up and in the direction of the palace. Now that he had recovered the flower he needed to head to palace.

Amy sighed as she and Mina headed back to the palace. Their search for the duke lead them nowhere. As they swam back to the palace they saw Raye and Lita dragging the duke along with them.

The two mermaids swam over to their friends. "Where did you find him?" Amy asked as they all swam in the direction of the palace.

"Oh, when we were looking for him we spotted him and Darien. As we swam over there he had punched Darien. We had caught him as he was chasing the flower." Lita explained to the other two mermaids.

Amy and Mina listened to Lita tell them how they found and caught Diamond. As soon as they reached the palace they all went down to the dungeons. Lita and Raye probably could've taken care of it by themselves, but Amy and Mina went incase they needed any help.

When Darien reached the palace he swam straight to Serenity's room. He didn't want to waist anytime. When he was outside of her room he was panting from all the swimming he had done in such a short time, from the out side of town to her room. He caught his breath before opening the door.

Leif was sitting in chair next to Serenity's bed. In his lap sat the book, which had told them what the antidote was for the poison. He closed the book and sat up straight when the door opened. He held his breath hoping that it would not be the queen. She had been coming into the room all day to see how the princess was fairing.

When he saw Darien come in he let out a sigh of relief before swimming over to him. "You're back."

Darien nodded as he held out his hand that had the flower in it. Leif saw the flower and smiled as he took it from Darien. Leif then turned around and swam over to pot that had some boiling water in it.

While Darien was gone he had read the rest about the antidote and found that they had to give Serenity the broth from the flower. While the flower lay in boiling water Leif grabbed a ceramic cup. It was what they were going to use to give the broth to her.

When the broth was done Leif filled the ceramic cup up with the broth. He then held it out to Darien and looked over at Serenity. "Sit her up and let her drink this. It'll remove the poison from her body."

"Alright." Darien said as he saw over to the bed that Serenity was lying on.

He swam over to the bed with the ceramic cup in hand. He reached over to Serenity and lifted her head up off the pillow and lifted the ceramic cup to her mouth. Slowly, the broth went into her mouth.

As soon as the broth was gone Serenity opened her eyes. "Huh? What's going on?" She asked as Darien lowered the ceramic cup away from her lips. She looked up and saw him. "Darien?"

"Yes?" He asked softly as he looked at her concerned.

"What happened?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes. What was going on? Why was she in her room with Darien and Leif? The last thing she remembered was being in the throne room with Darien and Diamond.

"Diamond poisoned you." Darien told the mermaid. "It was meant for me, but it got you instead. Luckily, you didn't die from it before Leif found the antidote. Also, you're lucky that you didn't die while I was out getting it. We just gave it to you." He explained.

Serenity sat there silently while she listened to him. He saved her life because Diamond had tried to take it. Well, really Darien's, but still. It was also very noble of him to do that. She blushed as she looked down at the sheets. "Thank you for saving my life." She told him as she looked up at him once more. Serenity leaned in and kissed him on his cheek.

Darien's cheeks turned slightly red from the kiss. He was about to kiss back her when the door opened.

Queen Darya, Amy, Mina, Lita, and Raye all came into the room at the same time. "Serenity darling, I'm so happy that you are alright now." The queen told her daughter.

"I am too, Mother." The princess replied as she took Darien's hand into hers and looked up at him.

The queen swam over to the two of them and looked at Darien. "Thank you very much for saving my daughter." She told him as she wrapped him in a hug.

Darien blinked a few times as Queen Darya hugged him. He knew the queen would be happy that her daughter's life had been saved but he wasn't expecting a hug. "Um, you're welcome your majesty, but Leif was the one who found the antidote." He informed Queen Darya because he thought the older merman deserved the credit for saving the princess.

The queen smiled as she looked at Leif. "Thank you Leif." She said in a gentle voice.

"I was just doing my job, your grace." Leif said as he bowed his head.

Queen Darya turned to the four younger mermaids, who each were hugging Serenity in turn. She cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. "Now that Serenity has been saved I think it's high time we had a wedding." She announced.

**AN: I've been meaning to update this story for a while. Anyway, I hoped you liked the chapter. Also, please excuse my sad attempt for action. The next chapter is also the last chapter. There also might be a sequel to this story. My head just keeps coming up for ideas with these characters. Please review.**

**Princess Cornelia**


	31. Chapter 30

**A Mermaid's Tale:**

**Chapter 30:**

It had been a week since Darien had helped saved Serenity's life from the poison that Diamond had put in the drink. Since then everyone followed the queen's orders and started to plan the wedding.

Diamond was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail. Once Leif fully examined him, however, it was found the rest of his life was going to be short. He had a poison in his body that would make him die a slow and painful death.

Mina hummed a cheerful tune as she swam to Serenity's room. Today was the day that Serenity was going to be married and she was excited. She smiled at every servant that passed by as if she was the one getting married. When she reached the princesses' room she knocked once before opening the door.

From the doorway the orange finned mermaid smiled as she looked at the princess. Serenity was sitting in a chair while Lita brushed her long locks.

Around her neck was a necklace with a pearl that looked like it was rainbowed colored. It had been the queen's necklace and Mina suspected that she gave it to her daughter as a wedding present. Her top was made of the finest sea silk that the seamstress could find. The top stopped right above where her fin started. The sleeves were bell sleeves that left the rest of her arms bare save for a simple silver bracelet around her wrist.

"You look so pretty." Mina exclaimed as she swam over to Serenity to give her a hug.

She would've hugged Serenity too if Lita hadn't gotten in her way. "Oh, no you don't." The brunette mermaid scolded as she shook the brush at Mina. "I've worked all day on her and I'm not going to let you ruin it with a hug."

Serenity giggled a bit as Lita pinned part of her hair up into a bun, the rest flowed like a waterfall down to the end of her tail. "Sorry Mina, you know how protective Lita is of her work." She apologized to her friend.

The blonde mermaid shrugged. "It's alright. I just came to see if you were ready anyways. Your mother wants to know when the wedding is going to start."

"In a minute. I just need to add the finishing touches." Lita said as she took a small tiara with the veil attached to it. She placed the tiara on Serenity's head and made the fabric fall over the girls face. "She's ready."

Serenity got out of the chair, looked at Lita and smiled. "Thank you so much." She told her friend.

The brunette picked up a bouquet of wild sea roses off the table and handed them to her. "You're welcome. Now you better go."

Darien was floating by the priest, waiting for the wedding to start. He couldn't believe that he was getting married. Everything seemed to be happening so fast. It was three weeks ago that he met Serenity and now he was marrying her.

He took in a deep breath and looked around. The wedding was going to take place outside in the garden since it was a nice enough day. He wasn't surprised that a lot of merfolk had shown up to the wedding. It was after all a royal wedding. Most of the guests' sitting in their seats, waiting for the wedding to start, while the rest were talking to people that they knew.

The seats were placed in front of the alter. They chairs were placed in rows, about eleven chairs were in each row. The chairs on the end of the rows were bound together with white ribbon. In the middle, between the chairs was a white velvet carpet leading to the alter.

As Darien looked around he saw the band getting ready to play, which meant that the ceremony was about to begin. He was happy that they wedding was going to start, but one of the only things that kept him from being fully happy was that his mother wasn't there on his wedding day.

Serenity bit her lower lip as her friends went to sit down so the ceremony could start. This had to be the most nerve-wracking day in her life. So many thoughts were going through her mind at that very moment. "I can't do this." She muttered to herself when she heard the music start to play.

When a hand fell on her shoulder she looked behind her. "Serenity, it's alright to be nervous. I bet Darien's nervous as well. You both are taking a major step. It's natural to feel what you're feeling right now." Leif told her in a low voice.

The pink finned mermaid looked up at him and smiled. She knew he was right about Darien feeling the same way she did.

Leif was going to take the place of her father and give her away to Darien. "Thank you." She said to him.

The older merman smiled at her. "You're welcome." He told her. "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Darien stopped looking around as soon as he heard the music. It was the moment he had been waiting for.

The mermaid princess looked down the isle at Darien and smiled a bit. It seemed like such a long swim to him from where she was, though she knew that in a few minutes she would be right up there with him.

She gripped Leif's arm when they began swimming towards Darien. She felt that her clutch on Leif was strong and she hoped that she wasn't hurting him. When they reached Darien, she let go of Leif's arm and placed it in Darien's hand.

When Leif was on his way to sit down he looked over his shoulder at the two of them. "I wish you both all the happiness in the world."

Serenity and Darien smiled at Leif before turning to the priest. The priest then cleared his throat. "Let's begin, shall we."

After the priest said the opening statements Darien and Serenity said their vows for each other that they had written themselves.

As soon as the vows were done the priest spoke once more. "Do you, Darien, take Princess Serenity to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health until death do you part?"

Darien started into Serenity's blue eyes before he spoke. "I do." He answered, not taking his eyes off of his bride.

The priest then turned to Serenity. "Do you ,Princess Serenity, take Darien to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health until death do you part?"

Serenity took a deep breath in and for a second Darien thought that she was going to say no. "I do."

"By the power vested by the underwater kingdom of Pacifica I now pronounce you merman and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Darien smiled down at Serenity as he lifted the veil over her head. When her face was in clear view her leaded down and pressed his lips against hers.

When they parted they turned to face the crowd. "Gentlemermen and merladies Prince Darien and Princess Serenity of the underwater kingdom of Pacifica."

Darien smiled as he looked at his wife. He couldn't believe it he was now a prince and married to the most beautiful creature that ever graced the earth.

"I love you." He heard her say.

"I love you two." He responded. "And I'll love you forever."

Serenity looked into his eyes and smiled. She knew that it was true and that he was going to lover her forever, no matter what. And she would do the very same.

**AN: I know the ending was cheesy, but I thought it was a great way to end this story. Thank you to everyone that supported me throughout this story. I really appreciate all the reviews. On another note, I am going to be doing a sequel. It's going to be called **_**Out of Water.**_** The first chapter should be up by the end of the week. Until next time.**

**Princess Cornelia **


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